Alternate reality
by Scarlett Rose Petal
Summary: Kevin 11,000 has been locked up safely in the Null Void for a week. But, one day, Ken and Devlin are found messing around in Grandpa Max's lab, and bring to their reality our favorite trio. What surprises await them? Gwevin!
1. Chapter 1

Ben, Gwen, and Kevin were sitting in the parking lot at Mr. Smoothie's. The day had been surprisingly uneventful, and the teenage heroes were bored. Normally, they would've given anything to have a day off, but now, they saw it wasn't worth it.

"So," said Ben suddenly. He had drunk the last of his coconut, wheatgrass, and sausage smoothie, which had been his sixth refill. Gwen and Kevin were regarding him in surprise, wondering how in the world he could drink that many smoothies and not get sick. "What are we gonna do today? You know, since there are no aliens around, and the press has decided to take a day off."

It was true. It was nearly afternoon and they hadn't seen a single reporter.

"I know," Gwen agreed, sipping her own strawberry smoothie, "I was supposed to do a project for school, but since we're usually fighting monsters all weekend, I did it on Thursday."

"And when you say fighting monsters," said Kevin, putting down his can of soda, having said no to the 'gross mess of stuff that only the dumbest, most disgusting man alive could force down' again, and looking up to narrow his obsidian eyes at his girlfriend, "you mean extra-dimensional creatures that get in your way when you're off flirting with the Forever Knights' squire."

Gwen glared at him.

"Hey, I'm not the one who said he was cute," she reminded him.

Ben laughed as Kevin glared at his girlfriend and Gwen smirked.

"Touché," he said, narrowing his eyes and giving her a small smile that clearly said _We're not done here._ If it had been anyone else, he would've punched them in the face already, but not Gwen. Never Gwen. That was his one and only law. Of course, considering his best friend was her cousin, he might've made a similar rule concerning the brunette teen sitting across from him, but no. A whole day, let alone a lifetime, without torturing, humiliating and fighting Ben Tennyson? They might as well lock him back up. The teen shuddered at the mental image.

The red head gave him a confident and devilish smile back. One that read just as clearly _Bring it on._

At that moment a large, yellow beam of light trapped them. It came down vertically, and literally from out of nowhere. They were transported through time and space, and landed in a heap on a cold, metal floor, the table and benches they had been sitting at just moments ago vanishing.

"Oof!" cried Gwen as she fell on top of Kevin who, thankfully, broke her fall. He wrapped his arm around her instinctively, pulling her closer. Her hands were caught between them. This was actually a position the two found themselves in routinely, whether it was in Gwen's bedroom when she had a nightmare and Kevin stayed over, or when he pushed her out of the way of an energy beam or something like that in the midst of a fight. The only difference was that he was usually the one on top. Ben landed beside them on his back.

"Ugh," he groaned as he got up, "Would it kill them to carpet the place?"

Kevin let go of Gwen and she got off him. A second later he was up beside her.

"Where are we anyway?" she asked, looking around. They were in some kind of lab where everything was huge and made of metal. They looked around, trying to find someone, or something, that could explain where they were, and why they were there.

A few feet away, unknown to them, two 10-year-old boys were crouched under a table, huddled close together, whispering.

"I told you not to mess with that," said one of them, pointing awkwardly at a remote in the other one's hand. There was very little space under the table. The boy had shoulder-length black hair which was tied back into a ponytail, dark, piercing blue eyes which, at the moment were narrowed at the kid across from him, pale skin, a grey hoodie on, and black jeans.

"Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know what would happen!" the other boy shot back. He had short brown hair, green eyes, slightly darker skin, a white T-shirt with a black stripe running down the middle on, and baggy, green pants.

"That's why I told you not to mess with it, Kenny!" the first one snapped.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, Dev," Kenny answered, knowing his friend was right, "And besides, they don't look that dangerous."

"Yeah," Devlin answered sarcastically, "Neither do I."

Kenny stayed silent as he watched the three new-comers. Again, Devlin had a point. The boy could turn into the hideous mutated form his father could when he had absorbed the Omnitrix several years ago. It was hard for him, but, whether anyone wanted to admit it or not, if there was one thing his father had taught him, it was how to take care of your enemies, with your powers or without. You never knew what kind of stuff Ben's grandpa had invented.

Suddenly, the remote slipped from Kenny's fingertips and fell on the floor with a light, but clearly audible _thud!_

The three teens immediately turned to the general direction the sound had come from.

"What was that?" asked Ben, frowning as he and the other two made their way over to the table.

"It sounded like a remote or something dropping," Gwen answered.

By now they had reached the table. They all froze when they saw the two boys hiding under it. As usual, Kevin was the first to react.

He grabbed the edge of the table and pushed it back so that it fell over and the two kids were in full light.

"Oh no," said Kenny, as the three teens frowned down at them.

**A/N: Okay, I know most of you are waiting for me to update my other stories, but I just couldn't resist! I've had this in my head ever since I saw the episode ****Ben 10,000 returns. Hope you liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews!**

* * *

><p><em>Previously:<em>

"Oh no," Kenny whispered as the three teens looked down at them.

* * *

><p>"Who are you?" asked Ben as the two kids got up.<p>

"I think a better question here is who are you?" Kenny snapped back. He got up and glared at the three teens. Devlin followed suit. He frowned at them as his dark blue eyes swept over each teen. They seemed vaguely familiar, like he'd seen them in a dream or something.

"Hey, I asked first!" Ben snapped.

Kevin and Gwen groaned. Gwen hit her forehead with her hand and Kevin crossed his arms and glared at the brunette teen

"Really, Tennyson?" he snapped, "That's all you got?"

"Tennyson?" Kenny repeated, his eyes sweeping over the teen appraisingly. He gasped, suddenly putting two and two together. They were them from the future! Of course! The guy with the black hair looked just like Devlin, and the other guy, well, he was kinda pale, but other than that he was exactly like Kenny! But then, who was the girl? Oh, well. Probably Devlin's girlfriend or something. "You're us from the future!" he exclaimed, pointing at the three of them excitedly.

The teens exchanged looks, clearly thinking that the kid was crazy.

"Um, Kenny?" said Devlin, "I really don't think so."

"Of course they are!" Kenny exclaimed, "Think about it! Don't they look exactly like us? Well, except for the girl. Who are you, anyway?" He turned back to the red head. Kevin smirked. The kid was acting so much like Ben that he wanted to laugh.

"I'm Gwen Tennyson," Gwen told Kenny, smiling a slightly amused smile.

"What?" the two boys cried out, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, she is," Ben told them, "And I'm her cousin Ben Tennyson, and this is our friend Kevin Levin."

"Kevin Levin?" Devlin repeated, his eyes widening in terror.

"Friend?" Kenny exclaimed, "You guys hate each other! Just last week you put him back in the Null Void! That's when Devlin joined the family!"

"Hate each other?" Gwen repeated.

"Null Void?" Kevin repeated.

"Joined the family?" Ben repeated. The other two glared at him.

"What?" he asked, shrugging at them. Kevin sighed in exasperation and Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Look, I think you guys have something mixed up," said Ben gently, ignoring his friends, "Kevin joined us about a year ago. He's changed. He used to be criminally insane, but not anymore."

Now it was the boys' turn to exchange confused looks.

"No," Devlin said slowly, "I think you have something mixed up. I'm Kevin Levin's son, Devlin and this Ken Tennyson. Ben 10,000's son. I think we would know if he turned good."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Gwen asked, her eyes widening. Her hands clenched into tight fists.

"He said if Kevin Levin suddenly started doing good, we'd know about it," Kenny told her.

"No, not that!" Gwen exclaimed, shaking her flame red hair, "The part before that."

"You have something mixed up?" Kenny asked, now completely confused.

"No!" Gwen cried again. Dealing with him was just as hard as dealing with Ben. "After that!"

"I'm Kevin Levin's son?" Devlin suggested, coming to his friend's rescue.

"Yes, that!" Gwen cried, almost forgetting the reason she had asked in the first place.

"He's lying," Kevin said, begging it to be so. He couldn't deal with Gwen's yelling at him for something that obviously wasn't his fault right now. Especially not since these kids thought he was still evil. Looking at the boy's expression though, even he didn't believe his own words.

Devlin smirked.

"Wanna bet?" he asked and stepped back. He lowered his head and concentrated hard on turning into the mutated form he had inherited from his father. He felt his grey hoodie, along with the black shirt he had on underneath, rip. He opened his eyes to find the three teens staring at him, horrified. Kevin was standing in front of Gwen protectively. He had one arm behind him, wrapped partially around her waist. The boy's eyes widened and he changed back to his human self.

"That proof enough?" Kenny asked, crossing his arms on his chest, "And, dude?" he added, turning back to his best friend, "You might wanna go find another shirt."

Devlin ignored the green-eyed boy.

"He's not Kevin Levin," he stated, not taking his eyes off the dark teen, "My dad would never try to protect anyone. Let alone Gwen Tennyson."

There was silence in the room.

"Don't do that again," Kevin finally told him, letting go of Gwen. The red head stepped back, her eyes full of sympathy for her obsidian-eyed boyfriend. She knew how hard it must've been for him to see the younger version of his mutated self just now.

"Why the hell not?" Devlin snapped. His temper was flaring. That was another one of the many things he had inherited from his villain of a father.

"Because you'll lose your humanity," Kevin told him. The boy's dark blue eyes widened. "If you stay that way too long, the energy will consume you. You'll only want more, and end up hurting the people you care about most to get what you want."

There was silence again. Gwen put her hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"That wasn't your fault, Kevin," Gwen told him. He turned around and put his hands on her waist. She sighed.

"When are you gonna get that it doesn't matter what you've done?" she breathed. It was one of those rare moments that it felt like there was just the two of them. In moments like this, they could be standing in the middle of a crowded room, and still not notice anyone. Heck, they could be standing in the middle of a burning building and remain completely oblivious! Kevin shuddered at the mental image of his girlfriend engulfed by dangerous flames.

"When are you gonna get that it does?" he shot back. Her hands moved around to the back of his neck.

"Not to me," she told him.

"Um, guys?" Ben's voice interrupted them, "You know we're still here, right?"

"What was that about?" Kenny asked, as the two teens let go of each other and stepped back.

"Yeah," said Ben, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, "I don't know how this fits into your whole 'Kevin's still evil', 'These guys are us from the future', and 'He's not really Kevin Levin' theories, but Kevin's dating Gwen."

"What?" the two boys gasped, turning their attention to the two teens.

"Although it did take him, like, five months to ask her out," Ben laughed. His friend gave him a humorless half-smile that clearly read _If you keep pushing on this, I'm gonna kill you._

"And you said yes?" Devlin asked, appraising the red head with wide eyes.

"Well, I wasn't gonna wait forever," said Gwen, rolling her eyes, "It seemed like Kevin was though." She gave her boyfriend that same smile she had in the parking lot just a few minutes ago. He gave her his signature smirk back.

"Wow, Eddie's not gonna like this," Kenny said to no one in particular.

"Eddie?" Gwen repeated, frowning at the 10-year-old.

"Who's Eddie?" Kevin asked, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Gwen's husband," Kenny answered.

"Her what?" Kevin exclaimed. Devlin hit his forehead against the heel of his hand.

"Dude, you are the biggest idiot in the entire world," he hissed at his friend. Kenny glared back at the boy.

"Alright, let's calm down," said Ben, stepping forward in between the two 10-year-olds and the osmosian. Steam was almost literally coming out of his ears from anger. "Kevin, Gwen's married, and you have a kid. Either way, you both cheated on each other."

"Speaking of which," said Gwen, stepping around Kevin and Ben. She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at Devlin. "Who is your mother?"

"Ugh," Ben groaned, "Look, we have more important things to deal with than your 'relationship crisis'. We need to figure out a way back home from…wherever we are."

"Parallel dimension," Kevin hissed at him, "They got us here with the transdimensional remote," he pointed at the remote at Kenny's feet, "Level 18 tech."

"How did you know that?" Kenny asked, regarding the teen in surprise, "Isn't Gwen supposed to be the smart one? Or is that another glitch in your dimension?"

Kevin snorted.

"No, she is," he told him.

"Kevin just happens to know way too much stuff about illegal tech, thanks to being trapped in the Null Void for three years and then having to be a conman and make illegal tech deals to make money," Ben explained.

Devlin's face turned bitter.

"That's my dad," he said, "Always thinking about the money."

"Well, that and revenge on my dad," Kenny added.

"Seriously, dude," Devlin snapped at him, "Shut up."

"Well, that explains why you think Kevin's still evil," said Gwen gently. She wanted to cringe at the words. She hated it when people assumed that just because Kevin had once been a criminal, he was gonna go down that road again. "But we still have the problem of how to get back."

"Give me that," Kevin snapped, stretching his hand out for the remote.

"No," Kenny immediately shot back, "You're probably gonna use it as some sort of weapon on us!"

"Oh, just give him the damn remote!" Ben snapped, "If you don't, there's a very good chance he's gonna kill Eddie in this dimension, rather than ours."

Devlin lifted the remote and handed it to Ben, who handed it to Kevin.

"Busted," he announced after a few seconds of examination.

The two boys exchanged panicked looks.

"Uh oh," said Kenny, "Can't you fix it?"

"No," Kevin answered, "It was defective from the moment you activated it. It would take more than a week to fix this."

"So we're stuck in a dimension where Ben's a superhero married to…?" Gwen trailed off.

"Kai Green," Kenny finished for her. Gwen looked at him in surprise but didn't say anything.

"…Kai Green, Kevin's an evil super villain, and I'm married to some rich guy whose grandfather builds hotels in the most dangerous places in the universe," she finished, "Well, what could possibly go wrong here?" The girl was being sarcastic now.

"And you also have a daughter, Jenny," Kenny added.

"Kenny?" Devlin snapped, "Where does your dad keep the duct tape?"

"Top kitchen drawer, why?"

"No reason," Devlin answered, and disappeared through a doorway.

"Wait a sec," snapped Kevin, his unpredictable temper flaring again.

"Kevin, calm down-" Gwen started to say.

"Calm down?" the teen snapped, "My girlfriend's married to some guy, and as if though that wasn't enough, they have a kid! You really expect me to calm down?"

"DUDE!" Ben exclaimed, "Chill!"

"Kevin, really," said Gwen gently, "That's not me. This is me." She took his hands in her own and gently squeezed them. Her emerald eyes were staring at his pleadingly. He sighed, all his anger melting under her gaze. She smiled, knowing that she had won, and gently stood on tiptoes to give him a small kiss on the cheek. He turned his head and met her lips instead, wrapping his arms around her waist and trapping her hands in between them.

They broke away for air.

"No fair," she breathed. Kevin chuckled.

"You know what they say," he said, smirking, "All's fair in love and war."

Gwen glared at him playfully. Neither of them noticed that Kenny was staring at them in shock, and Ben was trying desperately to ignore the couple. He finally noticed the boy and sighed.

"They do this a lot," he told him, "Be glad you don't have to go through this."

"Oh, I am," Kenny assured him. It was only then that Ben noticed the Omnitrix on Kenny's wrist.

"Hey, where'd you get that?" he asked, pointing at the watch.

"The watch?" Kenny asked, "I got it for my tenth birthday. Dad gave it to me."

"There's only supposed to be one Omnitrix in the Universe," Ben told him, frowning.

"Maybe in your universe, yeah, but not here," Kenny told him, "Here there are two Omnitrixes."

"Yeah, I got that," Ben told him. At that moment Gwen and Kevin broke apart.

"So, if you guys are done sucking face," Kenny said and shuddered, "Want the grand tour? It looks like you're gonna be staying here for a while," his eyes landed on Kevin and narrowed suspiciously, "That is, until my dad gets back home and decides what to do with you."

"Sure," said Ben, shrugging, turning half-way around o look at his best friend's reaction to the last statement. Other than the slightest tightening in the osmosian's eyes, he might as well not have heard the boy. "By the way, where is Ben 10,000?"

"Dad's away on some important mission," said Kenny, waving his hand like the arrogant man who was his father would have done, "Come on, let's go. I wonder what Devlin's up to with the duct tape…"

The three teens exchanged looks as they followed the young boy outside. Kevin shrugged.

"So clueless," he muttered.

**A/N: Okay, I know you guys are probably mad at me for not making this longer, but I tried. Next chapter will be longer! R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone!

The 10-year-old boy led the three teens down a series of long, dark halls that all seemed to lead to nowhere, except to another long dark hall. There were doors on all sides, but Kenny didn't bother to lead them into any of them.

"What is this place?" Gwen finally asked, frowning at the extremely high ceilings of the corridors, "Where do all these doors lead?"

"This is Dad's home," Kenny answered, turning around yet another corner to another hall, "The doors are guestrooms or cells. I don't know what we need them for, but Dad says it's just in case."

"Ugh," Kevin groaned, "Can you say Ben instead of Dad? Every time you say it, it makes me want to gag."

"Jeez, dude," said Ben, eyeing his friend with a worried expression on his face, "What's up with you?"

"For starters I end up in some stupid parallel universe where I'm still trapped in the Null Void, that you put me in, by the way," he snapped, glaring at his friend, "And then I find out my girlfriend is married to some rich preppy guy!"

"He's not that preppy," Gwen spoke up. Kevin turned to glare at her.

"I mean, well, it's just that, when we first met, he was pretty cute, and, well-" she stuttered.

"Ugh," Kevin groaned again, "Just don't talk." He snapped at her. Ordinarily Gwen would've snapped back at him to not tell her what to do, but she knew he was in pain right now. So, she kept her mouth shut and instead slipped her hand into his.

He looked back at her to find a small apologetic smile on her face.

"Sorry," she breathed. He sighed.

"It's okay," he breathed back. God knew he couldn't resist those emerald eyes.

"Ugh," Kenny shuddered. His best friend's evil dad dating his dad's perfect cousin was gonna take some getting used to alright.

"Trust me, this is nothing," Ben whispered to him, "You have no idea how mushy he gets with her."

"Mushy?" Ken snorted, "Kevin Levin? Are you kidding?"

"Believe me," said Ben, rolling his eyes, "I wish I was."

"Okay, here we are at the-" Kenny started as he opened a door. He tripped over a rope, falling straight into a wheelchair, skidding across the room (which they could now see was a kitchen), and falling headfirst into something that vaguely resembled a spider web, making him summersault forward, getting tangled up in the 'web'. Ben and Gwen were trying to contain their laughter, but Kevin was having trouble standing upright.

"Maybe that'll teach you to keep your mouth shut," Devlin's voice suddenly snapped at him. The dark-haired boy was towering above the brunette, having appeared from literally out of nowhere. He put another piece of duct tape over the boy's mouth.

"Dude!" Kenny exclaimed, after tearing the tape away from his mouth and wincing at the pain, "Not cool!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Devlin, waving the remark away with his hand.

Kevin had gotten his laughing fit under control and now merely chuckled.

"Classic," he stated, shaking his head.

The two boys looked at them questioningly.

"Kevin played the same trick on me about a week after he joined us," Ben explained, "By the way, whatever you do, never ask him to give you and your girlfriend a ride anywhere."

"What did you do?" Devlin asked in awe, momentarily forgetting who he was talking to.

"He made my life miserable," said Ben, glaring at his best friend, "Let's just leave it at that."

"Yeah," said Kevin, stepping inside the room and surveying the trap, "Don't get me wrong, kid, but this is amateur stuff." He untied the rope.

"Oh, yeah?" Devlin challenged, "Then why don't you show me how to pull a prank?"

An evil smile spread across the osmosian's face.

"Oh no," Gwen groaned, holding her head in her hand.

"What are you groaning about?" Ben asked his cousin, "I'm the one who's gonna get pranked by an evil genius."

"I still haven't gotten an answer," Devlin snapped at the teenage version of his father from another dimension.

Kevin chuckled.

"You got it, kid," he stated.

Gwen and Ben groaned.

"Is there a library here, by any chance?" the red haired girl asked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, "Just so that I have something to do while these two engage in their weekly 'Prank War'."

"Sure," said Kenny, shrugging his shoulders and attempting to disentangle himself from the duct tape.

"Here," said Gwen gently as she came over to help him, "Let me help you."

A few minutes later Kenny was sitting on the kitchen floor in front of a sea of duct tape.

"Thanks!" he cried.

"Uncle Ben! Kenny!" A soft voice shouted at them from a few rooms away. It sounded like it belonged to a little girl.

"Who's here?" asked Ben, frowning at the direction of the voice.

"It sounds like Jenny," said Kenny, standing up and moving over to a door at the other end of the room. It was gigantic. One wall was completely made of glass. There was a large kitchenette in the corner, and a table on the other side of the room with 14 chairs around it. But other than that, the room was completely bare. "What's she doing here?"

Devlin rushed over to his friend and put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"It could be a trap," he told him.

Kenny nodded and turned to look at the three teens.

"Maybe you should stay here," he said, like his father would've done.

Kevin scoffed.

"Are you crazy?" he asked, "If this is an alien, at least I'll have something to take everything out on." He absorbed the metal from the wall.

"It could just be Kenny's cousin, remember that," said Gwen, putting a small, comforting yet restraining hand on his shoulder.

He sighed and changed back.

"Fine," the osmosian growled. Gwen smiled a small smile.

"Alright, let's go," said Ben. He followed the two boys out to a giant, metal living room. There they saw a little red haired girl. Her hair was down to the small of her back, like Gwen's had been when Kevin had first joined them, only parted down the middle. She was wearing a pale blue cashmere sweater and jeans. Except for her pale blue eyes, she looked exactly like Gwen.

"Jenny?" asked Kenny, stepping out into the living room. The girl smiled when she saw her second cousin.

"Hey, dweeb," she said.

"Now!" Kenny cried. Devlin immediately fell on top of her, thankfully in his human form.

"What the-? Who are you?" she cried, struggling in the boy's grasp, "What's going on?"

Suddenly Gwen appeared at his shoulder, trying to tug him off her.

"She's real," the annodyte assured him, "It's not a trap."

The boy got off her.

"Sorry," he said, getting off the 10-year-old girl, apologies in his midnight blue eyes.

"Don't worry about it," she hissed, getting up and putting her hands on her hips, surveying the boy, "Who are you?"

"This is Devlin Levin," Kenny told her, "He joined us after Dad defeated Kevin 11,000 last week."

"You're Kevin Levin's son?" she asked in surprise, "No wonder you're paranoid."

"What?" Devlin asked, frowning at her. He had been ready for her to run screaming out of the room, or something along those lines, not stand there calmly.

"I mean, growing up with him as your father, that couldn't have been easy," she said, a gentle look replacing the harshness in her ice blue eyes. Devlin smiled at her. It was a hopeful smile, one that Kevin had often had when he'd first joined up with Ben and Gwen, and she had told him that it didn't matter what he had done before.

"Wow," said Ben, coming out of the shadows with Kevin after him, "Can anyone else say, 'freaky'?"

The three kids looked back at him curiously.

"I've seen that look in Gwen's eyes-" he pointed at Jenny, "-and that one in Kevin's-" he pointed at Devlin, "like, fifty times."

"What are you talking about?" Jenny asked, stepping around Devlin to stand beside her cousin.

"Um, yeah, you see, this is my dad, your mom, and Devlin's dad from a parallel universe," said Kenny, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Jenny's eyes widened and she turned to her cousin.

"Kenny!" she exclaimed, "You promised you wouldn't mess anything up this year! And now you've brought a criminal from another dimension? Mom is gonna freak!"

"First of all, he's not a criminal in that dimension," said Kenny defensively, "In fact he's dating your mom. And second of all, what do you mean, I promised not to mess anything up this year?"

"Mom and Dad's anniversary is tomorrow! That's why I'm here, you freak!" she snapped, "To make sure you don't mess anything up! And apparently, I'm too late."

"Okay, definitely freaky," said Ben, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Hmm," said Kevin, tapping his chin, "Parents expect too much from their daughter. Where've I heard that before?" He turned to Gwen. The red head sighed.

"Not now, Kevin," she said, shaking her head.

"Wait, your parents' anniversary is tomorrow?" Kevin asked, his eyes suddenly brightening.

"No, Kevin," said Gwen stubbornly, turning to glare at her boyfriend, "You are not killing Edwin."

"Kill Dad?" Jenny asked, her blue eyes wide with fear.

"Of course not, sweetie," said Gwen, dropping down to Jenny's level, "Kevin won't hurt anyone, will you, Kevin?" She didn't even turn around to look at her boyfriend.

The osmosian snorted.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he stated.

"See?" she said, pushing the hair out of the 10-year-old girl's eyes.

"Alright," said Jenny, relaxing a little. Gwen stood up and smiled at the little girl. Then something dawned on her.

"Jenny," she breathed, "That's short for Jennifer, right?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Kenny.

The annodyte's hands suddenly clenched into fists, the smile disappearing from her face.

"Uh oh," said Ben, shaking his head.

Kevin's arms were around her instantly, just in case she tried to go annodyte. The girl sighed, relaxing into his touch.

"Why did I name you that?" she asked, that same hardness in her eyes.

"I don't know," Jenny told her, shrugging, "Why? Is there some evil villain in your dimension named Jennifer?"

"Yeah," Ben laughed, "Her name's Jennifer Nocturne, and she did something no one would ever dare to do – tried to steal Kevin from Gwen."

"Yeah, speaking of which," said Kevin, "aren't you the one who made out with her in front of the entire viewing world?"

"Hey!" Ben snapped, "You know that she's the one who kissed me!"

"Yeah, Ben, that didn't work for Kevin when he made out with Charmcaster, and it's not gonna work for you now," Gwen told him.

"Fine," Ben grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Kevin?" asked Gwen gently, "You can let me go now."

"Oh, right, sorry," said Kevin, smiling at his girlfriend as they both stepped away from each other.

The annodyte rolled her eyes and turned back to the three kids.

"Wait," said Jenny, "You cheated on my mom?"

"And you forgave him for that?" Devlin added.

"What is wrong with your dimension?" Kenny asked, shaking his head in exasperation. Trying to understand what was going on was like trying to understand a difficult math problem – way too hard and most likely, pointless.

"Nothing's wrong with our dimension," said Ben, "but yes, he cheated on her, and yes, she forgave him."

"Why?" asked Jenny, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Long story," said Kevin, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yes, and we need to focus on what's really important here. I don't think Edwin and the parallel me are gonna be too happy when they find out what Kenny did."

"Me?" Kenny exclaimed, a little too defensively, "What about Devlin? He was there, too!"

"Yes, but he's not the one who pressed the button that brought us here, is he?" Gwen snapped.

"True," Devlin announced, "I actually tried to stop him."

"You did?" Jenny asked, surprise lining her pale features.

"Yeah," Devlin told her, "No results though."

"I'm not surprised," Jenny laughed, "Trying to stop Kenny from doing something stupid is like trying to-"

"Stop your mom from using magic?" Devlin suggested.

"I was going to say stop the sun from shining, but that works, too," Jenny told him. The two of them exchanged looks.

"Like mother from another dimension, like daughter," said Ben, an amused smile on his face, "and like father from another dimension, like son."

Kevin and Gwen exchanged annoyed looks.

"Would you be mad at me if I killed your cousin?" he asked, glaring at the 16-year-old.

"Maybe," said Gwen, crossing her arms on her chest and frowning at the obnoxious hero.

"Guys!" Kenny exclaimed, "Gwen's right – we need to figure out what to do about Gwendolyn and Eddie's wedding anniversary."

"Well, uncle Ben's out trying to find some present for them, most likely a lawn mower, again, and I don't think he'll be back until tonight," Jenny said.

"So maybe we can hide them here until the party's over," Devlin finished for her.

"Didn't you say he was out on some important mission?" Kevin asked Kenny.

"Well, yeah, I thought that's where he was," said Kenny, frowning at him.

"Let me guess," said Jenny, hands on her hips again, "You were playing video games when he left."

"Wow, you're good," said Devlin, smiling at the girl.

"Thanks," said Jenny, flashing him a smile, "I get it from my mom."

"Are you sure she's from this dimension?" Ben asked her, smirking.

Kevin and Gwen sighed exasperatedly and Kevin hit Ben on the back of the head.

"Ow!" the teen cried, "Dude! What was that for?"

"Kenny's not the only one who needs to learn how to shut up," Kevin growled. Ben looked terrified for a moment.

"Anyway," snapped Kenny, "I don't think that would work. Great grandpa Max monitors the whole house from his RV."

"Then we need to figure something else out," said Jenny, frowning.

"Wait," said Ben, "didn't you say that the chances of Kenny not messing anything up were, like, 1 to a million?"

Devlin snorted.

"More like 0 to a million," he said, smiling.

"Thanks a lot," Kenny hissed at his friend.

"Where are you going with this?" Gwen asked her cousin.

"I mean, they're gonna be mad that he messed up, but they don't have to know how badly," Ben told them, "Do you two still have your I.D. masks?"

"Yeah," Kevin told him, pulling the mask out of his back pocket. Gwen did the same.

"Great," said Ben, smiling. He put his own mask on, and was immediately transformed into a teenage Kenny. He basically looked the same, except for the color of his skin and hairstyle.

"We just have to make them think we're from the future," Ben said, "That way, Kenny won't get in trouble and Kevin can make out with Gwen all he wants."

"Okay, gross," said Jenny, holding up her hands and shuddering, "but what does you two changing into us have anything to do with Kevin making out with my mom?"

"Yeah, I don't think they'd buy it that Gwen Tennyson's daughter is dating Kevin Levin's son," Kenny added.

"Trust me, they would," said Ben, shaking his head in amusement. Gwen and Kevin put the masks on. They now looked like teenage versions of Jenny and Devlin. The only thing that they had to change about themselves was their eye color, and in Gwen's case, her hairstyle.

"Nice," said Kevin, reffering to her hair. Gwen rolled her now ice blue eyes and ran her fingers through her hair.

"What is?" Kenny asked, frowning at the red head.

"Kevin hates it when she wears her hair up," Ben told him, rolling his eyes.

"Great," said Jenny, "If we ever need to transform into you three, we'll know that. But, if you're gonna look like us, you might as well act like us." Her eyes were sparkling deviantly.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ben asked, "It's not like we're gonna continue this charade after the party."

"But still," said Devlin, catching onto her plan, "Better to be safe than sorry."

The two of them were smiling evil smiles that would've made even Kevin 11,000 tremble in fear.

"What the heck are you two talking about?" Kenny snapped, glaring at his friends.

Jenny huffed in exasperation and Devlin hit the heel of his hand against his forehead.

"I'll go get the duct tape," he said and disappeared through the doorway.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Thank you so much for the reviews! Hope you like this chapter!

"So, you guys know what to do, right?" Jenny asked, sitting back on her heels on the couch. The three kids had spent the last half hour explaining to the parallel versions of their parents how to act like them. They had also managed to convince Kevin to change his outfit so that he bore more of a resemblance to the younger boy than his real self. He was now wearing black skinny jeans and a grey hoodie, just like Devlin. Of course, Devlin was now grounded for however long it took him to repair the remote. Devlin had grumbled and almost broken down, but one look from Jenny had that taken care of. Kenny had snickered and gotten himself in another duct-tape related mess.

"Why is that boy so obsessed with duct tape?" Gwen asked, frowning at the two ten year olds.

"He's Kevin Levin's son," Jenny explained, shrugging her small shoulders, "What do you expect?"

Out of the three kids, Jenny was the one who was the least bit bothered by the fact that her uncle's arch enemy was in their house. Even if he was just a parallel version.

"You're not him," she had said, "You're an ultimately better version that just loves to make out with my mom a lot."

"You have no idea," Ben grumbled, immediately receiving a thump on the back of the head from his anodite cousin.

Back in the present, the three kids were sitting on one of the couches in the gigantic living room that could've fit Gwen's entire house in it. Three of them, in fact. Jenny was sitting in between her second cousin and her 'future boyfriend'. Ben lay sprawled out across another couch, looking almost like he was asleep. Gwen sat on the arm of the chair Kevin had occupied. They were quietly sipping smoothies, waiting for someone to finally get home. (Jenny had said that her favorite was strawberry, like Gwen's, Kenny never tried anything twice, which was just fine by Ben, and Devlin hated smoothies altogether. Hearing this, the osmosian had almost begun to cry.)

"Yeah, we know," Gwen told her.

"And, Kevin?" Jenny added, "Try not to kill my dad."

The 17-year-old rolled his eyes at the 10-year-old red head.

"I'll do my best," he agreed.

"It's a good thing Gwendolyn's not gonna be here," Kenny muttered.

"Your sister?" Devlin asked, his eyebrows rising, "Why not?"

"Wait, you have a sister?" Ben asked, opening his green eyes to stare at the boy in surprise.

"Yeah," Kenny said ruefully, "She's older than me so she thinks she can do whatever she wants."

"And her name's Gwen?" Kevin asked, his eyebrow's rising just like his parallel son's had two moments ago.

"Gwen_dolyn_," Jenny corrected him, "She likes it better that way. It's so that no one gets messed up when calling my mom and her."

"Boy, she sounds more annoying than Gwen used to be," Ben laughed. His cousin glared at him and muttered a spell under her breath. The ceiling chipped and a large block started falling onto the young hero. He gasped and rolled off the couch, just as the cement crashed down on it.

Everyone was laughing.

"Hey!" Ben snapped, glaring at his cousin, "Not funny Gwen!"

"Rule number 1, kids," Kevin laughed, "Never mess with anodites."

Gwen smiled and reversed the spell. Once the block was back in place, a wave of nausea overtook her. She felt the room spinning and closed her eyes, leaning back against the armrest. Kevin's arms enveloped her and he pulled her into his lap effortlessly, letting her bury her head in the crook of his neck.

"You okay?" he breathed, rubbing soothing circles into her back.

"I'm fine," the girl said, her voice muffled against his neck. The teen shuddered as he felt her lips moving against his skin. It wasn't hard to forget where they were, or that they weren't the only people in the room. It would've been so easy to just readjust her and meet her lips in a searing kiss-

He was interrupted by the brunette 10-year-old laughing.

"Who knew Kevin Levin was such a sap?" he asked no one in particular.

"Everyone in our universe," Ben told him, sitting back on the couch, "So, what were you saying about Gwendolyn?"

"Oh, yeah," Kenny said, quickly forgetting about the parallel version of his father's cousin and her osmosian boyfriend, "She's gone to her friend's house for the summer, but if she were here, she'd ask way too many questions and in the end someone would spill everything to her."

Jenny suddenly had a fake coughing fit.

"*cough* you *cough*" she said, making Devlin laugh at his friend's murderous glare.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just tell her?" Gwen asked, turning her head to look at the brunette boy, completely ignoring her daughter's slightly juvenile behavior, "I mean, if she were here. We're only gonna be disguising ourselves for the party. Why not eliminate every possible chance there is of it not working?"

"Because," said Devlin, "she'd tell." His voice suggested that it was completely obvious and the teens were stupid for not realizing it.

"She might not," Jenny disagreed, frowning at him, "She'd probably figure out a way to use this to her advantage. Probably to blackmail you, doofus." Her pale, slim hand was pointing at her cousin.

"How do you know that, dweeb?" Kenny snapped back at her.

"Mom says she's like her mother," Jenny answered simply.

"You don't like Kai very much, do you?" Ben asked his cousin, a small smile playing on his mouth.

"Only as much as I like Jennifer Nocturne," Gwen stated. Kevin chuckled, his whole body vibrating underneath her. The girl was suddenly very aware of how close they were. She turned her head to see his now midnight blue eyes boring into hers. The girl was suddenly hyper-aware of him. His hand supporting her back, rubbing soothing circles through the oh-so-thin material of her red shirt, his other hand lying across her stomach, holding her close to him, the way she was pressed against him and how her skin seemed to burn wherever he touched her, even through the material of their clothes, and the way there seemed to be an arctic wind blowing wherever he wasn't.

"How come?" the teen asked, bringing the red head out of her thoughts.

"Ben used to have a crush on her and then she broke his heart," Gwen explained.

"And this concerns you how?" Kevin asked, now genuinely confused.

"When we met her, Ben almost turned into a werewolf, and when we found out that he wasn't one she said that she would've gone out with him, but only because she had wanted to train him… as a dog," Gwen explained, her emerald green eyes now sparkling with amusement.

Kevin was now laughing his head off.

"No wonder you married her," he said to his best friend, trying to contain his laughter.

Ben glared at his friend. The other three stared at the teens. This information was obviously completely new to them.

"Mom just said that Kai was a user with a mind so conniving that it could rival Kevin 11's," Jenny said, frowning slightly.

"Hey!" Kenny snapped, "Don't talk about my mom like that!"

"Right," said Jenny, obviously having just realized that the woman's son was in the room "Sorry."

"Are you sure you're Gwen's daughter?" Ben asked, his eyes narrowed at the girl.

Jenny rolled her ice blue eyes.

"Positive," she stated, flipping her hair back.

Suddenly, they heard a sound like a door opening and quick steps running down one of the thousand's of hallways in Ben's mansion.

"Who's that?" Jenny asked, frowning at the direction the sound was coming from.

"It sounds like-" Kenny cut himself off, growling in the back of his throat.

Devlin snorted.

"Speak of the devil," he muttered.

Jenny shot him a surprised look. Devlin's eyes suddenly turned innocent and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Dad's favorite saying," he explained. Jenny's eyes widened but she kept quiet nonetheless.

The steps were getting closer. Everyone was on high alert, waiting for the person to get to the room. Gwen had gotten out of the chair, much to Kevin's disappointment, and stood beside the chair, her hands glowing with manna. Ben got up to a sitting position on the couch. The door slowly opened and in walked a 13-year-old Native American girl with black hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing a bright blue dress with a white collar that clung to her skin.

"Gwendolyn?" Kenny exclaimed in greeting, "What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Kenny," she said, rolling her dark eyes, "Nice to see you, too. Is this our new adopted brother? Hi, Jenny."

"Hey, Gwendolyn," the 10-year-old red head said, smiling at the girl with fake enthusiasm, "What brings you here?"

"Your mom and dad's anniversary," Gwendolyn answered. Her eyes suddenly landed on the three teens. "Who are they? Kenny? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" the boy snapped, sulking and crossing his arms on his chest, "Why does everyone just assume it was me?"

"Because it usually is?" Devlin suggested, a small smile on his lips. Jenny smiled.

"It was our fault, actually," Ben cut in, "Jenny's dad pissed off Devlin and he brought us back to this time so he could mess with the guy."

"Wait, so you guys are…?" she trailed off, her eyes scanning all three teens.

"Jenny Goldsmith, Devlin Levin, and Kenny Tennyson," Gwen said, smiling at the girl, "Only as teenagers."

"And quit making stuff up, Tennyson," Kevin snapped at Ben, "You know full well that it's your fault we're here."

"Seriously," Jenny spoke up, glaring at the parallel version of her uncle disguised as her second cousin, "You should've just covered for them."

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Ben cried defensively.

"Yes, Kenny, it is," said Gwen, her forehead braced against her hand.

"What did I miss?" Gwendolyn asked, sitting down on yet another comfy chair.

"Apparently Devlin's going out with Jenny in the future," Kenny said, slapping the heel of his hand against his forehead, knowing that somehow someone would find a way to blame this all on him.

"What?" Gwendolyn exclaimed, "Gwen Tennyson's perfect daughter who never does anything wrong is dating the son of the most evil man in the universe? How is that possible?"

"You really are Kai Green's daughter, aren't you?" Gwen grumbled, sitting back on the armrest of her boyfriend's chair. Kevin rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around her, pulling the girl back into his lap.

"Yes…?" said Gwendolyn, frowning at the girl, "Jenny, your parents are gonna freak!"

"Her dad will," Kevin corrected her, a slightly smug smile on his face.

"Most of us haven't even met Devlin Levin as a kid, let alone a teenager who's dating Ben 10,000's goddaughter," Gwendolyn reminded him. Her eyes were narrowed at the teen. "So you might want to tone the whole relationship thing down a bit."

Kevin chuckled.

"No chance in hell, princess," he stated. Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Actually she has a point," Jenny spoke up, "Almost no one knows that the Tennysons have adopted Kevin Levin's son."

"Jenny?" Devlin, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout this whole thing, suddenly spoke up, "I really don't think people are gonna be too big on the idea that the son of the guy who almost destroyed their city is living here."

"Didn't I already tell you?" Jenny asked, glaring at the boy, "You're his son, not him."

"You're gonna have to tell him that at least 50,000 more times," said Gwen, smirking at the girl.

"And then 50000 after that," Ben added.

"Shut it, Tennyson," Kevin said, smirking at his best friend.

"Anyway," said Devlin, growing slightly impatient with the whole thing, "Is there anything else you want to know?" He turned to look at Gwendolyn.

"Yes, actually," said Gwendolyn, suddenly reaching in her bag and pulling out two boxes, "I'm sorta glad that you three are here. Jenny, which one's your mom gonna like better? This one, or that one?"

Gwen frowned and got out of Kevin's lap, walking over to the girl and the two boxes.

"What are they?" she asked, frowning at them. Jenny held her breath and Devlin and Kenny hit their foreheads with the heels of their hands. The two boxes turned into different coffeemakers. Everyone from this generation – no, this universe! – knew that! Gwendolyn stared at the older version of her cousin with a weird look on her face.

"Are you sure traveling through time didn't mess with your head?" she asked, frowning at her, "Or is some of Devlin's stupidity and forgetfulness rubbing off on you?"

"Dude, I hate your sister," Devlin announced, glaring at the Native American.

"Join the club," Kenny muttered.

"How did Dad ever come to adopt you?" Gwendolyn snapped at the dark haired boy, jumping out of the chair.

"How did he not adopt you?" Devlin shot back, his demeanor was calm and relaxed. The parallel version of his father was very proud of him.

"Ugh, I am going to my room," Gwendolyn snapped, taking the boxes with her and disappearing through the door.

As soon as she was gone Kenny started laughing.

"Nice one," he choked out, bumping his fist with Devlin's.

There was a smug smile on Devlin's face. It took him a moment to realize that Jenny was glaring at him.

"What?" he asked, his eyes widening as he took in the red head's hostile expression.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Hey, it was either that or ruin the plan," the boy said, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Kevin?" Gwen's voice suddenly interrupted their discussion, "Are you crying?"

The room seemed to freeze as everyone turned around to look at the dark teen. He was indeed sobbing!

"I have never…been…so proud…in my entire life," he finally got out.

Ben, Jenny and Kenny exchanged amused smiles as Gwen walked over to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around him, letting him pull her into his lap so that she was straddling him.

Devlin's eyes bore no trace of amusement. The boy was purely shocked. His father never cried. This was a rule. No matter what time period, or what dimension, Kevin Levin didn't cry. Yet he was seeing proof that this was not true.

"Are you okay?" Jenny asked, smiling at the boy lightly, still not over the whole the-most-dangerous-man-in-the-universe-is-crying-right-in-front-of-us thing.

"Yeah, fine," he assured her.

The girl put her hand over his and smiled at the boy. This time the smile was warmer, like she was genuinely concerned.

"You sure?" she asked, her innocent blue eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said, feeling a smile of his own appear on his face.

"Ugh, guys!" Kenny suddenly yelled, "Save it for when they get here!"

The two kids turned around to see Gwen's hands in Kevin's hair, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, their mouths connected. The two were in the middle of one of their heavy make out sessions that no one, no matter how dangerous and/or important could interrupt. And if by some miracle they did manage to interrupt it, then they would've had to deal with the wrath of Gwen Tennyson and Kevin Levin. People in Bellwood had learned not to interrupt the two teens, no matter where they were. And if they by some crazy accident did, it was better to run and take cover and let the two resume what they had been up to just two seconds ago than push it.

"Forget it," said Ben, grimacing at the two teens, "They've made out in front of Grandpa Max, her parents, and almost all the rest of Bellwood."

"Great Grandpa Max?" Kenny repeated, his emerald eyes widening in shock.

"Yeah," said Ben ruefully, "Twice."

"Okay…" said Jenny, her face growing paler.

Suddenly they heard the door opening again. The three kids and teen heard the sound of voices in the hall, all of them immediately freezing.

The door slowly opened to reveal-

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!" Ben 10,000 yelled, seeing a teenage version of his goddaughter in the teenage version of his adopted son's lap.

A/N: Hope you like it! R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys are awesome! Now, here's chapter five!

_Previously:_

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Ben 10,000 snapped.

* * *

><p>Gwen and Kevin immediately broke apart. The kids were staring at the group of adults that had just walked in through the door half in horror and half amusement. It was Ben 10,000, wearing a very similar outfit to Ultimate Ben, Kai Green (now 10,000), Gwen Goldstein, and her husband Edwin Goldstein, dressed in a black button down shirt and dark blue jeans. It was only the fact that they knew what was really going on that kept Jenny and Devlin from being completely horrified. In that parallel universe, their parents were either insane, or they were just weird.<p>

"Kenny," the green-eyed man said menacingly, turning in the direction of his son, "What did you do?"

"And who are these kids?" the parallel Gwen spoke up. She was wearing a midnight blue button down silk blouse and black pants. Her hair was up in that dreadful ponytail that Kevin hated so much. But the teen had to admit that she did look hot, though. Her hands were on her hips as she regarded everyone.

"Don't blame them," Ben said to the grown up parallel version of himself, stepping forward as if though he could somehow shield the kids from their parents' wrath, "We were the ones who traveled back in time. It's not their fault that Devlin decided it would be fun to travel back in time to the moment he and Jenny met."

"It's not exactly my fault that her dad hates me either, now is it?" Kevin snapped back, "Or that you're the biggest idiot on the face of the planet."

"He's right, Kenny," the teenage Gwen disguised as Jenny agreed, "If you'd just covered for us, none of this would've happened."

"Hey, what you two do on your own time is not my business," said the teenage Ben, putting his hands up in surrender, "I'm staying out of it."

"Oh, are you?" the annodyte asked, her hands lighting up with manna, "And by the way, Devlin, Dad does not hate you."

"Sure he doesn't," the dark teen said sarcastically, rolling his eyes but letting the matter drop, "You should've known better, though, Tennyson." An evil smirk spread across the osmosian's mouth. He reached down to the floor and absorbed it. The metal spread over his disguise like it would've over his normal body.

"Uh oh," said Ben. He was running out of the room before anyone had time to blink. Evidently, he had forgotten about the Ultimatrix. Kevin smirked wider. His fist turned into a mace and he ran after the brunette teen.

"Boys," the two Gwens and Jenny said simultaneously.

"You don't even know what's going on," Ben 10,000 pointed out to his cousin.

"Oh, honey, it's obvious," said Kai, smiling as she wrapped her hands around her husband's arm. Her long black hair was undone, and she was dressed in black leather. The overall image suggested 'paid assassin' rather than 'wife of Earth's greatest hero'. "Devlin, Kenny, and Jenny traveled back through time because Edwin did something to upset Devlin, who's going out with your cousin's daughter."

"Is that true?" Edwin asked the teenage version of his daughter.

"Well," she said, "yes, but it's Kenny's fault."

"No, I meant that you're going out with Kevin Levin's son," he snapped, his ice blue eyes boring into hers.

"Yes, it is," Gwen said quietly, her stare never wavering from her parallel husband's.

"Jennifer, I always thought that you made excellent decisions," said Edwin slowly, "Now, I'm not so sure. Dating that boy – who could go rogue any minute! – is probably the worst decision you ever have made, and ever will make!"

"Daddy, that is so unfair!" Jenny exclaimed, getting up and glaring at her father, "You can't judge him because of what his father did once upon a time!"

"Jenny, chill," Devlin whispered, trying to pull her back down, "Your dad hates me, remember?"

"He doesn't hate you," Gwen snapped, crossing her arms on her chest, "And _never_ call me Jennifer." Her hands lit up with manna and she raised them, as if though ready to strike the man if he even moved.

"Jennifer," Edwin said firmly, "stop being so childish."

The manna soared at his head. The dark haired man ducked out of the way. Everyone else's eyes widened in surprise.

Suddenly the red haired girl felt a pair of strong, familiar arms wrap around her waist, keeping her arms pinned to her sides.

"Let me go!" she cried, struggling in Kevin's grasp. It was no use. Gwen might have been a black belt in karate, but Kevin was three times as strong as any other human his age. In no time at all, he had her facing him, his mouth hot on hers, their tongues battling for dominance.

"Do they do this a lot?" Kenny asked the teenage, parallel version of his father. No one had realized that the two teens had reappeared.

"Yeah," he answered, "Get a room, you two."

The couple broke apart. A smile had replaced the furious look on Gwen's face that had been there just moments ago. Kevin had that same smile on his face as well.

"Sounds good to me," he said, turning back to the red head in his arms.

"Shut up," she laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, lowering his mouth back to hers.

"And now you see why interrupting them is a bad thing," said Ben Tennyson, quickly sidestepping the two embracing teens. The three kids hastily got up and out of the way as Kevin pushed Ben's cousin down on the couch.

"Jennifer, you are grounded," Edwin said glaring at his daughter. A beam of manna was immediately fired at him. Kevin and Gwen broke apart to glare at the man.

"Seriously," Kevin seethed, "Call her that one more time, and I will beat you to a pulp."

"No wonder he hates you," Kenny muttered to his friend.

"Now who needs to calm down?" Gwen teased. Kevin smirked and lowered his mouth back to hers.

"Edwin, they're right," said the parallel Gwen, turning to glare at her husband, "If he makes Jenny happy, then that should be enough for us."

"But-"

"Edwin!" she snapped, "If you don't want to spend the next week locked out of the house, tied to a tree upside down, then drop it!"

"Fine," he grumbled, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Alright," said Ben 10,000, "If the matter of Jenny and Devlin dating has been settled, even though I'd like to talk to those two about that later, we need to get you kids back home. How did you get here, anyway?"

"Devlin built some sort of time machine," said the teenage Ben, shrugging his shoulders like his friend inventing the time machine was no big deal. And, well, considering how good Kevin was with weapons, mechanics, and tech in general, it really wasn't.

"_Devlin_ built a _time machine_?" Gwen Goldstein repeated incredulously.

"Well, yeah," said Ben, now getting a little defensive, "He pretty much knows everything there is to know about tech in our time. Grandpa – I mean, Great-Grandpa Max is sort of an inspiration to him." The way he was talking, Kevin might as well not have been there.

"So, how are you supposed to get back?" Edwin asked, "I'd rather not have them here for our anniversary, no offense."

"None taken, Uncle Ed," said Ben. _Leave it to Gwen to marry a total snob, _he thought. "But I really don't know. Maybe he can try to invent something here."

"And how long would that take?" the parallel Gwen asked.

"A week, maybe," said Ben, "Maybe more."

"Well, we've still got a party to prepare," said Kai, "Everything else can wait. Are they gonna be done anytime soon?" She pointed her chin in the general direction of the two teens, who were still making out.

"I don't know," Ben admitted, shrugging his shoulders, "But, I'm guessing not."

"Great," said the brunette man.

"Hey, Dad," said Kenny, his emerald green eyes suddenly brightening, "If you're gonna be busy, Devlin and I can go out and patrol the city for you."

"Well-" he started unsurely.

"Bring your cousin," Kai interrupted, taking his arm and guiding him out of the room.

"But Mo-om," Kenny whined, "She doesn't even have a board!"

"Technically, there is room enough for two on one," Devlin spoke up, a slightly devilish smile on his lips. His friend turned back to him in disbelief.

"Are you sure?" Jenny asked, a bright smile on her face. She was used to being judged and excluded from things by her second cousin just because she was a girl. He was the same way with his sister, so why should she be any different?

"Sure," said Devlin, smiling back at her, "That is, unless you're scared."

Jenny's smile turned to a playful glare.

"You're on," she declared and took his hand, leading him out of the room.

"Wonderful!" Kai beamed, "Kenny, are you three gonna go, too?"

"Depends on how long it takes for them to quit playing tonsil hockey," Ben answered nudging his head back at the two teens, "But I'm in."

"Awesome!" Kenny cried, and ran after the other two with his teenage father disguised as him on his heels.

"I wonder what happened to Devlin's powers," Ben 10,000 muttered once they were gone and the adults were leaving.

"What are you talking about?" his wife asked.

"I noticed it, too," said Gwen, shaking her head, "He didn't morph when he was chasing Kenny, he absorbed the ground, and then morphed. But even then, it was just his hands."

"Probably just another power he inherited from his oh-so-wonderful father," Edwin said sarcastically.

"Edwin!" Gwen barked at her husband.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Kevin pulled away from Gwen and chuckled.

"I guess some things never change," he said, smirking down at her.

"I guess," she agreed, "Now let's go."

She tried to get up, only to be stopped by Kevin forcing her back down on the couch.

"Or," he said suggestively, "We could just stay here."

Without waiting for a reply, his mouth connected with hers, forcing her mouth open, devouring it. It took barely a minute for her to comply and kiss him back.

* * *

><p>"Well, that was…weird," said Ben, referring to what had just happened a moment ago back in the living room.<p>

"Very weird," Kenny agreed, "I can't believe that Aunt Gwen was so cool about Jenny dating Devlin."

"Not that," Ben stated, "How Kevin didn't try to kill Edwin, and he actually stopped Gwen from hurting him."

"Didn't you say that he was different in your universe?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah," Ben agreed, "But not that different. There are some things that never change."

By this time they had reached the balcony. Devlin and Jenny were already there, getting onto his board.

"Have you ever even been on a hover board?" Devlin laughed as he climbed on and helped her.

"Of course," she said, rolling her eyes, "I've never tried getting on with someone else, though."

Devlin laughed again and pulled her on so that her back was pressed against his chest, his arms wound tightly around her.

"Seatbelt," she said, looking down at his arms, "Nice touch."

Devlin rolled his eyes and then the two were flying up above the boy and teen's heads. Kenny took his own board and then turned back to Ben.

"Sorry, but we don't have any spare ones," he said apologetically.

"That's okay," said Ben, smiling as he turned the dial of the Ultimaterix and turned into-

"Big Chill!" he breathed in Big Chill's strange, raspy voice, and flew off with Kenny after him.

The two caught up to Devlin and Jenny in no time.

"Race ya?" Kenny suggested, smirking at his friend as they flew through the sky.

"Sorry, man," said Devlin, shrugging as Jenny held her arms out for balance, "No racing with passengers on board."

"Right," Kenny said, a sad look on his face.

"Don't worry," Jenny said, turning her face up so she could see into Devlin's midnight blue eyes, "I'll ask Mom to get me one of these for my birthday. By the way, Uncle Ben, is it true she could beat you at video games when you guys were kids?"

"That is so not true!" Kenny snapped at her, narrowly avoiding hitting an alien-like bird, "There is no way your mom could beat my dad at video games, right Dad?"

"When we were your age, she could," Ben admitted, clouds of ice cold breath leaving his mouth, "Not any more, though."

"Ha! I knew it!" Jenny cried, turning back to Devlin, "You owe me a smoothie."

"Fine," Devlin sighed. He didn't look half as disappointed as he ought to have been about losing a bet, though. "Right now, or what?"

"No, next year," she said sarcastically, "Of course right now! I haven't been to the city in, like, a year. You can show me around."

"Let's go," said Devlin, already steering the board away.

"Ahem," said Big Chill. It wouldn't have been hard to guess his facial expression, if he were human – a frown.

"And look for crimes to stop, of course," he added hastily, an apologetic smile on his face.

Big Chill nodded and the two kids flew off.

"You knew you were gonna lose that bet," said Jenny as soon as they were out of earshot.

"No, I didn't," Devlin said, not looking her in the eye.

"Yes, you did," Jenny insisted. She saw the roof of an abandoned building up ahead and pointed at it. "Let's sit down over there."

Devlin turned the board, but hesitated at the last moment and turned away.

"Hey!" she snapped, glaring up at him, "What are you doing?"

"I want to show you something," he said, "You did say you wanted to see the city, didn't you?"

"Okay, what is it?" she asked, her blue eyes alight with curiosity.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, his arms tightening around her waist.

"Yeah," she said, sounding a little unsure.

"Good," he said, smiling like a maniac. Next thing Jenny knew, they were falling through the air, WITHOUT A BOARD!

"AHH!" she screamed, clinging to the boy for dear life while he cackled madly.

A/N: Guys, I am so sorry I haven't updated! I had the rough draft of the chapter written up, but then I reread it, and realized it sucked. So I wrote this instead. I hope you liked it! R&R! I promise the next chapter will be longer, and hopefully, up sooner!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews guys! You guys are my inspiration!

* * *

><p>Jenny was screaming her head off as she and Devlin toppled down towards the ground. It was terrifying, and the girl was certain they would die. This was, after all, Kevin Levin's son. He might not have been as crazy as his father, but that didn't mean he hadn't inherited at least some of the man's madness. If the parallel teenage version of her mother knew she was thinking that, she'd be grounded for a month. Or, possibly, worse. Suddenly, she felt her feet touch something solid, like the ground, effectively breaking her train of thought. The girl looked down and saw that she and the blue-eyed boy were standing on his board again, weaving through – or rather, over – what passed as streets in this dimension.<p>

"What the-?" she exclaimed, her eyes wide in disbelief. She felt the boy chuckle behind her.

"Don't worry," he told her, "You're safe with me."

"If I hadn't seen my mom making out with your dad a few minutes ago, I wouldn't believe you," Jenny stated, a smile on her face. She had to admit that it had been incredible, falling like that. In fact, if she had known that they weren't about to meet their doom, she might have enjoyed the fall a lot more.

"Can we do that again?" she asked, her ice blue eyes bright.

"Alright," Devlin laughed and let her go.

"Ah!" she squealed, clutching the front of his hoodie, "What are you doing?"

"Teaching you how to free-fall," Devlin answered, gently prying her fingers off, "Don't worry, I'll catch you."

The girl looked doubtful, and his pale face turned gentle.

"Look, if you want, we can go get those smoothies instead," he said, not letting go of her hands.

A smile spread across her face. With those few words he had reassured her that it was safe, that he would be there to catch her, that she had nothing to be afraid of.

"Can I have my hands back?" she asked, gently tugging her hands out of the boy's grip.

"Oh, sorry," he said, letting go of her.

The girl smiled wider and actually jumped off the board this time.

"AAAAHHHH!" she screamed, hurtling towards the ground. How could she have ever doubted Devlin's sanity? This was great!

A wide smile crossed Devlin's face before he turned his board so that it was facing the ground, and flew down as fast as he could. A few seconds later, he was level with the 29th floor. Jenny was laughing maniacally as she dropped into his arms, bridal style. The boy almost lost his balance under the impact. She lifted her head and wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling again. Even though she was certain that he would catch her, she'd had enough excitement for one day.

"That was incredible!" the girl cried, looking into his deep blue eyes. There was still some of that wild light in hers. The adrenaline rush was gone, though.

"Told you," Devlin laughed. He held the girl tighter to his chest, and flew off towards the roof of another building. The board settled down there, and he set her down before getting off the board as well.

"So, what now?" Jenny asked, smiling as she looked over the edge of the roof at the city. It was enormous. She lived with her parents in the country side, where there were no buildings in sight, only meadows, hills, forests, and all the other stuff that she was sick and tired of. It had been her dad's idea, since he knew annodytes were more comfortable around living things. He had assumed they would prefer that over the city. Mom had decided to go along with it, since it was better for her magic. The truth was that she would have preferred the city, but, since she was gone most of the time anyway, it didn't make that much of a difference.

"We might as well do what 'Kenny' told us to," Devlin told her, making air quotes around the name, "Start looking for crimes to stop."

The girl laughed again.

"He exaggerated," she said, "I'm sure there aren't that many crimes in the city."

"Have you ever been here?" he asked her incredulously, "This city is like a magnet for crime."

"Is that how your dad found it?" she asked casually, realizing too late what she had said. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Her eyes widened in mortification and she slapped her hands to her mouth.

"It's okay," Devlin assured her, waving away her apologies as he came to stand beside her and glare down at the roof of a slightly smaller building, "I guess I better get used to stuff like that. I mean, I am Kevin Levin's son."

"Yeah, you are," Jenny told him, turning so that she could look at his face, or, what she could see of it, "And in another universe that's probably the coolest thing ever. I mean, look at him in that universe: he's dating Gwen Tennyson, helping her cousin, and on top of that, he's a Plumber."

"Yeah," Devlin agreed bitterly, "The perfect dad."

"You don't believe it, do you?" she asked gently, putting her hand over his where it rested on the railing, "That he could actually change?"

"No, I don't," the boy admitted.

"Give him a chance," the annodyte said gently, putting on a weak smile.

Devlin snorted.

"You sound exactly like your mom," he told her, a ghost of a smile on his face. Jenny glared at him and hit the boy playfully on the arm. He chuckled.

"You know you're gonna have to dance, don't you?" she asked, a wide smile on her face. The wind blew her red hair into her face as she leaned back against the railing and turned to look at the boy.

"What?" he asked, a confused look on his pale face.

"At my parents' anniversary party," she explained, "Everyone's gonna have to ballroom dance."

"Great," said Devlin, turning to face the girl fully as well, "I have no idea how to do that."

Jenny laughed and took the boy's left hand in her right.

"You taught me how to free-fall," she said, pulling him to the middle of the roof, "Now let me teach you how to dance."

"I don't think-" Devlin started to interject.

"Do you want to look like a complete idiot?" Jenny asked, taking his other hand and placing it on her waist.

"No," he admitted.

"Then let me teach you," she said.

The boy rolled his eyes but complied. A half hour later, he had mastered the art of ballroom dance.

"Hey!" a grown woman's voice interrupted Kevin and Gwen's make out session.

The dark teen lifted his head to glare at whoever had interrupted the overly-romantic and passionate kiss he had just been sharing with his girl. His glare melted once he saw it was the parallel Gwen. She was holding a cardboard box in her arms and glaring at the two teens.

"Sorry," the younger red head apologized, pushing her boyfriend off her and getting up. She tucked her hair behind her ear, an apologetic expression on her face.

The woman's eyes immediately softened.

"It's alright, sweetheart," she replied, "But if you don't want your father to kill him, you better shorten the make out sessions."

"Yeah, right," Kevin snorted, rolling his deep, blue eyes.

"Devlin," Gwen said warningly, her hands already made into fists, threatening to light up with manna at any second. The teen's eyes widened and he backed off, making the two Gwens smirk.

"You really are nothing like your father," the parallel one told him, laughing lightly and turning on her heel. She exited the room, not waiting for the teens to follow her, but assuming that they would. She wasn't disappointed.

"'Shorten the make out sessions'?" Kevin murmured to the 16-year-old girl beside him as they walked down a long corridor, "Are you sure she's the parallel you?"

"Kevin," the red head growled, hands fisting at her sides again.

"Hey, I'm just saying," he defended quietly.

Gwen rolled her eyes. This was becoming more and more annoying. But in that adorable, Kevin-like way that she couldn't resist. She turned to look at him, and before she could stop herself, her face broke out into an involuntary smile. The boy smirked at her. He had known that she wouldn't stay mad at him for long. The girl guessed his thoughts and her eyes narrowed. She elbowed him in the ribs for his cockiness. It was like a wordless conversation passing between the two. Almost like they could read each other's minds.

They entered a large ballroom, about twice the size of the living room. Ben 10,000, Kai, and Edwin were setting up tables, a dance floor, and even a stage at the front of the room. It looked like the setting for a high school prom, minus the banners. In the stage corner Gwendolyn was helping Max set up the speakers and a microphone.

"So, you kids are finally done," Ben said, leaving one of the tables and coming over to them a smirk on his face. His eyes narrowed as he appraised his worst enemy's son. "Edwin's gonna kill you," he declared, his face crinkling with worry. Edwin may not have had powers, but he could be pretty intimidating when he wanted to. The man took the cardboard box out of his cousin's arms and set it down on the floor.

"I can take care of myself," Kevin said, rolling his eyes and bringing the grown man back to the present.

The teenage Gwen sighed and rested her head in her hand before turning to face her boyfriend.

"Please don't do anything stupid," she asked, her ice blue eyes pleading with him. The teen's expression softened.

"Yeah, yeah," he said. The girl brightened immediately and turned back to the two adults.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" she asked.

"Well, unless you want to test out the dance floor…" Ben said, trailing off suggestively.

An even bigger smile spread across the red head's face as she pulled the osmosian to the dance floor. Max smirked and hit the button to play the music. It was some really old-fashioned song that everybody in this generation had probably forgotten the name of, anyway. Except for Gwen, of course.

The parallel Gwen elbowed her cousin in the ribs once they were gone.

"Ow!" he cried, turning to her and glaring slightly, "What was that for?"

"You really hate my husband, don't you?" she asked, a slight smile on her lips as she watched the two teens dancing.

"Hey, you remember what he did on our 18th birthday," the man said, cowering like a lost puppy. His cousin rolled her emerald green eyes.

"Ben, all he did was buy you a moped instead of a Mercedes," she reminded him.

"Exactly!" he cried, "And he bought you a Porsche!"

"You have got to stop taking advantage of the fact that my husband's rich," the woman said with an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen," he muttered, rolling his eyes. The girl glared at him and he smirked.

"Happy anniversary," he told her, a sincere smile spreading across his face.

"Thanks," she responded, just as her husband walked up.

"Was that really necessary?" Edwin asked, pointing back at the two teens. 'Devlin' had just said something incredibly amusing, and 'Jenny' was giggling at the joke. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and his arms were wrapped firmly around her waist. It looked like they could stay like that forever, both of them completely oblivious to the rest of the world. It made the adult Gwen smile, knowing that her daughter was truly happy. Even if it was with the one guy anyone least expected it to be with.

"Oh, give him a chance, Eddie," Kai's feather-soft voice came from behind them, one of her slender arms wrapping around the raven-haired man's shoulders, "He might not be that bad."

"Oh, really?" Ed asked, turning to face his cousin-in-law incredulously, "Are you telling me you would actually be okay with it if your daughter went out with Kevin Levin's son. Or if your son went out with Charmcaster's daughter?"

"Well, I wouldn't ground them for something that hasn't happened yet," Kai said, letting go and stepping over to her husband. Her other arm wrapped around his shoulders, and his instinctively went around her waist, pulling her closer.

Gwen wanted to gag. She had never liked Kai, and wasn't about to change her mind anytime soon. The woman had to admit, though, that in this case, she was right. Jenny was stubborn, and, if they tried to do anything to mess with her relationship, there was gonna be hell to pay.

"You were being a little harsh," she said gently, "He's not Kevin. They're two totally different people."

"Yeah, yeah," Edwin said, waving away her words, "So, what are we gonna do about them?"

"Edwin!" the red head cried, "We're not messing this up for her!"

"It's probably just a phase, anyway," Ben cut in.

"A phase?" Ed repeated incredulously.

"Yeah," Kai agreed, "Every girl, at one point in her life, wants to date a bad boy. She'll be over it by the end of this week."

Back on the dance floor, the teens weren't as oblivious to the conversation as they pretended to be.

"What are they talking about?" the red head breathed. Her head was resting against the teen's chest, along with her hands, as the slow song played around them.

"You and me," he breathed back, "Probably how to break us up."

"Do you have any idea how weird it's gonna be when all the guests see that your son and my daughter are supposedly together in the future?" Gwen asked, lifting her blue eyed gaze to look at him.

"They'll get used to it," Kevin assured her.

"But, still," she said, "I don't want to cause some sort of problem in case they don't get together in six or seven years."

"Gwen, have you seen those two?" he asked, smirking as he took her hands in his and placed one on his shoulder, "I think there's a better chance they'll get together in two years, and the people will blame us for lying about when we got together."

"Not to mention we'll probably have the press to deal with," Gwen added as he wrapped his free arm around her waist again.

"Do we ever not have to deal with the press?" Kevin chuckled.

"Good point," the red head admitted as he twirled her around, "I just hope Jennifer Nocturne doesn't show up."

Kevin laughed again.

"I'm more worried about your 'dad'," he said, pulling her close again.

"The almighty Kevin Levin, who's taken down thousands of aliens, and also a bunch of boys who hit on me, is afraid of a human who probably hasn't so much as held a weapon?" she asked incredulously, "I can't wait to tell Ben."

The osmosian rolled his eyes at her.

"The worst those aliens can do is destroy stuff," he pointed out, "Your dad can forbid me from seeing you."

"Forbid you?" she repeated, "Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?"

"Just dance, babe," he said, pulling her close again. She felt his vibrating laugh against her and rolled her eyes.

Suddenly the music stopped and everyone turned to the old man and his great-granddaughter working on the stage.

"I think that's enough dancing for today," Max Tennyson chuckled, "We haven't met, by the way."

"Sorry, sir," said Kevin, the last part automatically slipping out. A wide smile spread across the man's face as the two teens stepped away from each other. Edwin's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected that Kevin Levin's son could be polite to anyone. If the boy was polite to anyone, shouldn't it be him? He was, after all, Jenny's father. Evidently, though, the teen thought differently, and so did his wife's grandfather. The old man had never been particularly fond of Edwin, strange as it might seem.

"No need," the retired Plumber stated, lifting his metal hand, "It's not hard to guess. Never would've put you together with my great-granddaughter, though, Devlin."

"Not this again," Gwen groaned, too quiet for anyone other than her boyfriend to hear.

"You gonna take good care of Jenny?" Max asked, stepping closer to them.

"She's everything to me," Kevin stated, his eyes never wavering from the old man's.

"Good," he said and turned away from the teen, "Gwendolyn, can you finish up? I've got some stuff to take care of in the lab."

"Sure great-grandpa Max," Gwendolyn said.

"Need some help?" Kevin asked, frowning at the man as he remembered the remote he had obviously been working so hard on had been busted.

"You know anything about this kind of stuff?" Max asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise. Gwen promptly burst out laughing. Everyone stared at her in surprise. The laughing fit wasn't that long, fortunately.

"Sorry," she said, finishing and turning back to her grandfather, "That's like asking Ben or Kenny if they like smoothies."

Kevin chuckled at his girlfriend and turned back to her grandfather.

"In other words, yeah," he clarified.

"Well, then, come on," Max said, motioning for the teen to follow him, "I'll show you where the lab is."

The two of them left the ballroom, and Gwen smiled smugly at the adults.

"Well, we should get back to work," said Kai, turning back to the box the adult Gwen had brought from who knows where and started unpacking it. Everyone else muttered something in agreement and went to do whatever it was they had been doing before the two teens showed up.

Gwen smiled, rolled her eyes and went to help them.

Big Chill and Kenny were flying over the city, disappointed that they couldn't find anything that needed their attention.

"Hey, want me to show you the giant statue they put up of my dad?" Kenny suddenly asked, becoming bored with flying around and around and around with no results.

"A giant statue of me?" Big Chill repeated, "Of course!"

Kenny smiled and turned his board around so that they were heading in the direction of the giant statue.

"So," said Ben, turning back to his human self and sitting down on one of the statue's giant, gold shoulders, "Must be pretty cool, being my son and all."

"Yeah, I guess," Kenny agreed, leaning back against the head, "If you let me help out more, it would be totally awesome."

"Let you help out more?" Ben repeated, "Didn't I just let you go out and find crimes to stop all by yourself?"

"That's cuz you knew there'd be nothing to stop!" the boy cried in exasperation.

"Then why did you want to go out?" The teen was really confused by now.

"Because-" the boy cut himself off. The truth was because he wanted to race with Devlin, but he obviously couldn't say that. He didn't have to, though. It was written all over his face.

"You wanted to race with your friend, but he went off with your red-headed cousin," Ben finished.

"Well, yeah," the younger bearer of the Omnitrix admitted, turning his gaze away from the parallel, teenage version of his father, "Isn't it ever like that with you, Kevin, and Gwen?"

"Sometimes," the teen admitted, "But most of the time, if we're not dealing with aliens, or monsters, or robots, or Forever Knights, they're making out in his garage…or her bedroom…or his room…or Mr. Smoothie's parking lot…or Burger Shack…or his car…or-"

"Alright, alright!" Kenny laughed, covering his ears with his hands and trying to shield the mental image of his favorite aunt and best friend's father making out anywhere, "I get it!"

A small smile appeared on Ben's face.

"Anyway, they're off making out somewhere, while I'm getting chased by crazy fan girls," Ben continued, "I remember when Kevin turned back to normal. Gwen practically lived in his garage for the first week, and neither of them would answer their phones, so I couldn't go anywhere!"

Kenny was laughing so hard that he almost fell off the statue.

"So, you ready to head home?" Ben asked when the boy's laughing fit was over, shuddering as he remembered the smiles on the girls' faces as they chased him all around town, shouting his name until he finally found a way to ditch them, usually with the aid of his watch.

Kenny was still sporting a huge smile as he got up and jumped on his board.

"We should probably get Jenny and Devlin first, though," he said, already flying off in the direction his friends had gone.

"Jetray!" Ben shouted as he changed into the alien.

"Why do you yell your name at the sky like that?" Kenny asked as they flew over the city.

"It strikes fear into my enemies," Jetray answered.

Kenny frowned at the alien and shook his head.

"Whatever floats your boat," he said and flew off ahead of him.

They arrived at the rooftop where Jenny and Devlin were dancing a few minutes later. Kenny immediately started laughing as he watched them.

"Wait until…everyone…hears about this!" he cried, already turning around to head back home.

"Oh, no you don't, Tennyson!" Devlin shouted, getting on his board and chasing the 10-year-old home. The girl on the rooftop was already forgotten.

Ben chuckled and started to follow them.

"Hey!" Jenny yelled. The teen turned back to her and flew back down.

"Sorry," he said, "Didn't expect that to happen."

Jenny rolled her ice blue eyes and climbed on the alien's back. He flew off after the two boys. When they arrived home, all the adults, the two boys, and the teenage Gwen were waiting for them.

"What is that?" Ben 10,000 asked, pointing at the alien, "I don't have it in my watch."

"That's Jetray," 'Jenny' explained, "He's a new one. I'm sure you'll find him on the Omnitrix."

Just then the alien descended in front of them.

"You left me alone on a rooftop!" Jenny huffed, glaring at both her cousin and new-found friend as she climbed off Jetray, who promptly changed back into a teenage version of Kenny.

"Yeah, they do that a lot in the future," the teenage Gwen said, shrugging her shoulders as she leaned against a pillar.

"No we don't," her cousin disagreed, frowning at her.

"You two left me alone to face my parents after you demolished my house!" she snapped, "And you went to get smoothies!"

"Hey!" Ben snapped, "Smoothies are what makes the world go round! Now, where's Devlin? And somebody get me a banana, liver, and cinnamon smoothie!"

"First off, son, nobody's gonna get you that," Ben 10,000 told him, a slight smirk on his lips, "And second, he's with Grandpa Max."

"What are they doing?" Kenny asked, frowning at his father.

"Apparently Devlin's taken an interest in mechanics," said the adult Gwen, smiling at the young boy.

"I have?" he asked, his eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah," Ben said, chuckling, "You wouldn't believe how much time you spend working on your car – I mean space ship."

"He has his own space ship?" Kenny exclaimed incredulously.

"Who on Earth would be crazy enough to buy a 17-year-old a space ship?" Edwin asked.

The two teenage cousins exchanged looks of pure amusement. In their universe, the answer would have been: anyone. Everyone knew how good Kevin was with mechanics, not to mention that he cared about his car, jet, and anything else that could take you from one place to another, as long as it wasn't alive and could be worked on anytime, nearly as much as he cared about his beloved girlfriend Gwen Tennyson.

They didn't get to say any of this out loud, though. Not that they would have, but they didn't get the chance to make up a lie, either. At the moment when the teenage Ben opened his mouth to answer, the lights went out and chaos ensued.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry it took so long, but I was having a little trouble with this one. Hope you guys liked it!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you all for the amazing reviews, guys! Love you all! And thanks to everyone for the awesome suggestions!

As you can see, I'm not dead, I was just in the country for a couple of weeks. Those of you who read No Way! already know that, but still. Anyway, on with the story!

While everyone else was upstairs, waiting for the kids and the 'teenage Kenny' to get back, downstairs in the lab, Max and Kevin were working on some of the alien tech weapons Max had engineered recently. Kevin didn't say this aloud, but most of it had already been created decades ago in their universe. Max seemed to contribute the teen's knowledge to the fact that he was from the future, or so the 17-year-old thought. The two worked in companionable silence for a while, until the retired Plumber interrupted it with just one question.

"So, Kevin," Max said conversationally, "How is it you know so much about alien tech?"

The osmosian's eyes grew wide with panic. Had he just imagined it, or had the old man called him by his real name? Did he know something? "I'm sorry," Kevin said hesitantly, looking up from the machine they were working on, "But did you just call me Kevin?"

"Yes, of course," the old man said, a small smile crossing his face, "You think I don't know an ID mask when I see one?"

The dark teen's eyes narrowed at the old man. If what the kids had said was true, then the retired Plumber should have been calling his grandson or trying to lock Kevin back up in the Null Void. Instead the he was standing there, asking the raven-haired teen how he knew so much about alien tech, the thing he had studied so closely for the past six years. Kevin's dark eyes locked onto something, as he studied the man. It was a small, seemingly insignificant detail: the twitching of his right eye.

"It's impossible to tell when someone's wearing an ID mask," the osmosian said smoothly, his eyes not straying from his friends' grandfather's, "The reason the Plumbers invented it was so that they could infiltrate groups of their enemies without their knowing. It's undetectable. Except, of course, by energy beings."

"Impressive," Max stated, the smile not wavering, "Gwen teach you that?"

A smirk crossed the obsidian-eyed teen's disguised face.

"Gwen couldn't use a wrench if her life depended on it," he stated, "So, how'd you know?"

"I reviewed the security tapes," the best Plumber of all time announced, "I'm surprised you didn't think of that."

"I figured this charade would be over by the time anyone thought to check those out," the teen defended himself with a shrug. There was silence in between them again.

"Aren't you wondering why I haven't told everyone about you kids?" Max asked.

"I don't question the good stuff in life," Kevin said with another shrug and a brief smile, "Most of the time I just go along with it." He was playing it cool. Inside, the teen was freaking out. What was going on? Max was good, and he might have decided to give him another chance in that universe, but in this one… Kevin 11,000 had done so many horrible things, what Kevin Levin had done seemed minimal and unimportant. Devlin hadn't gone into detail, but of what he had mentioned, it seemed like the man was worse than Albedo, Vilgax, and Darkstar combined. Except that, perhaps, he was the three villains combined. Anyway, the point was that Kevin wasn't sure if the man could forgive him for all the stuff his inter-dimensional counterpart had done in the past.

The old man chuckled, bringing the teen out of his thoughts.

"Good policy," he stated, "You seem like a smart kid in that universe, though. I know my granddaughter wouldn't be with you if that weren't true. So, guess."

Kevin was taken aback even more, if that was possible. He knew the reasons Max had given him another chance in that universe as well as he knew the back of his hand: he was the son of his dead partner, he had proved that he could do good, but, most of all, because of Gwen. The old man knew it would kill the girl to see something bad happen to him, and he couldn't bear to hurt his beloved granddaughter.

"Because of her," the teen found himself saying, "If you saw the tapes you know she cares about me." Gwen was saving his life, or in this case, his right to stay out of the worst place in the universe, again. It seemed like no matter how many times he saved her life, he still owed her more.

"That," Max agreed, interrupting the osmosian's train of thought again. He was getting so distracted with this conversation that it was a wonder he could even focus on what was being said by either of them. His brain might as well have been on autopilot, "and because of Devlin. The boy's lived ten years believing his father's a psychopath. This is his chance to see something different. And, but don't tell anyone I said this, I would love to see what pranks you planned on teaching him."

Kevin chuckled.

"I did have one in mind," he said, the smirk never wavering from his face. Finally, something that didn't need to be thought out!

"Anything you need?" Max asked. Like any man, he loved a good prank, and this non-psychotic Kevin seemed like he was full of them. And the Plumber was an amazing judge of character.

"Night vision goggles, and a blueprint of the building," Kevin said immediately. Max reached to retrieve the things from a drawer in the desk the two had been working at. He was glad to be of help. He believed people could change…to a degree. And as long as the teen didn't do anything stupid like, say, try to kill his grandson or break his granddaughter's heart, he was willing to give him a fair shot.

"AAH!" someone screamed.

"Help!" someone else yelled.

"What's going on?" someone else cried hysterically.

"What happened to the lights?" the voice of another person rang out.

"DAMN IT DEVLIN!" the voice of the adult Ben boomed louder than anyone else's, "WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO?"

The lights suddenly turned back on and illuminated the chaotic scene. Ben 10,000 looked enraged as he threw his fists through the air wildly, reminding everyone of an overgrown, angry toddler. The teenage Ben had tripped over his parallel son and both were lying on the floor, Kai and the adult Gwen were tangled in a heap on the floor, and neither looked very happy about the fact. Edwin had his arms wrapped around a pillar like it was a security blanket, his face white with terror, and Jenny was hanging on to Devlin, her face a mixture of excitement and hysteria. The young boy was pretty sure her nails had bitten through the fabric of his hoodie and shirt, and were gonna leave scars, but didn't say anything. Instead, he wrapped his arm instinctively around the girl, trying to soothe her.

What was most surprising, though, was the fact that the teenage Gwen disguised as Jenny was pinned to a nearby pillar by her boyfriend, his lips working over hers feverishly. Everyone turned to look at the two teens as Kevin pulled away. He didn't let her go, though. He knew she wasn't mad, since he did stuff like this 24/7, but he liked where she was and wasn't going to let her go no matter what her idiot husband said.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked, a confused look on his face that somehow managed to include a smile.

"Don't you think I'd be able to tell the difference between you and some other creep who decided to kiss me during a black out?" the red head asked, arching her eyebrow, "Now, please let me go."

The boy smirked and easily complied. What she wanted, though, was another story.

"DEVLIN!" Ben 10,000 roared again, "What the heck did you do?"

"Calm down, honey," Kai tried to calm him, as she and the adult Gwen disentangled themselves and got up.

"Max gave me a blueprint of the building and night-vision goggles," Kevin told the man, pointedly ignoring his wife, "and I found the control for the central lighting."

"So you just decided to turn it off?" the hero cried, his voice reaching such a high pitch that it was almost comical. It was hard to keep from laughing.

"Yep, pretty much," Kevin stated.

"Ben, please," Kai pleaded, "Calm down."

"No, I will not calm down!" her husband snapped, "He-" Ben was cut off by Kai's mouth on his, effectively blocking out all else that was going on.

"Ew!" Kenny cried, turning away from the image of his parents making out, "That's even more gross than when you two do it!" The last part was directed at Kevin and the parallel version of his father's cousin.

"He's got a point," Devlin admitted, turning away as well. Jenny buried her face in the boy's chest. A teen version of her mother making out with her cousin's worst enemy turned best friend she could handle. Sort of. Her mom's 40-year-old cousin making out with his wife? Not so much.

"Those two make out like a couple of teenagers at a movie theatre," Edwin hissed, stepping away from the pillar.

"You mean like Jenny and Devlin?" his wife teased, a small smile on her lips. The raven-haired man glared at her.

"That reminds me," said Kevin, turning away from all the chaos and back to his girlfriend, "How many guys, other than me, have you kissed? You never did tell me."

The girl's eyes widened. She knew that this was the one question in the world that she couldn't answer honestly. At least, not if she wanted to avoid the murder of several boys from her school, karate class, summer camp, and several other places. When they got back home she would have to tell the Plumbers about what had happened in this universe so that they could send some of their forces to protect Edwin, in the off chance that Kevin ever got out of her sight long enough to actually make it to the moon, where Eddie's grandfather was still in the process of finishing a hotel, courtesy of the Plumbers.

"How about you never ask me that question again, and Ben will never ground you again?" she suggested. An amused smile spread across her cousin's face as the mental image of Kevin getting grounded, and by him, of all people, popped up in front of him.

"Deal," Kevin stated, his eyes narrowed, a smirk on his face.

"Ben, do you promise never to ground Devlin again?" she asked, looking over her boyfriend's shoulder at the married couple who were shamelessly making out – exactly the way the adult red head had said – like the two of them usually did.

"Yeah, sure Jenny," was his muffled reply.

"Happy?" the annodyte asked, annoyed, turning back to the osmosian.

"Yep," he chuckled.

Suddenly, the face of a dark-skinned, black-haired girl peeked in through the doorway to the balcony. Gwendolyn immediately coiled in disgust when she saw her mother pressed up against the wall by her father.

"Ugh," she groaned, turning away from the two adults and back to everyone else in the room, "How long has that been going on?"

"A few minutes," adult Gwen told her, "Is something wrong, Gwendolyn?"

"Yeah, dinner's getting cold," the 13-year-old said, "Great-grandpa Max is already in the dining room." She promptly ran back to the dining room, which was, everyone assumed, where she had just come from.

Ben 10,000 pulled away from Kai.

"We better go unless we want him to replace all the normal food with octopus meat and maggot rice," he panted, "By the way, what did I agree to?"

"You agreed never to ground Devlin again," Jenny said brightly, a wide smile on her face.

"I did WHAT?" the hero cried.

"You're never aloud to ground me, or him, again," Kevin said smugly, pointing at his parallel son. Devlin's eyes widened as he stared at the dark teen. This was quite possibly the best day of his life!

"Let's get to dinner before you do something stupid, honey," said Kai soothingly, tugging on the man's arm and walking backwards out of the room at the same time.

"Well, at least there's some good from her," adult Gwen muttered, looking after the descending couple.

"Gwen," Edwin said warningly, "If I have to put up with our daughter dating Kevin Levin's son in five years-"

"Six," the teens and kids all corrected him simultaneously.

"– six years," he continued, "then you have to put up with Kai, too."

"You are so unbelievable," the red haired woman muttered as she left the room, too. Her husband chuckled and followed her.

"Well, that was weird," the remaining Ben said, frowning after the two adults.

"What was?" Gwen asked, turning to frown at her cousin.

"Kevin just pulled a major prank and conned you into getting him out of trouble," the bearer of the Ultimatrix said.

"What else is new?" Kenny smirked, rolling his eyes.

"I wasn't done yet!" the teenage version of the boy's father snapped at him, practically stomping his foot on the ground, "Anyway, Edwin didn't say anything about it!"

"He's right," Jenny admitted, "That doesn't sound like Dad."

"Yeah," now it was Devlin's turn to agree, "I would've figured he'd bite my head off."

"No chance in hell," Kevin muttered, rolling his eyes and then fixating them on his son, "Or am I gonna have to teach you how to deal with your girlfriend's over-protective father next?"

"What are you talking about?" Devlin snapped, now seriously confused.

"You said you wanted me to teach you how to pull a prank, and there you go," the teen retorted, crossing his arms on his chest, referring to what had happened a few minutes ago.

"Not to mention, he also got Uncle Ben to never ground you again," Jenny piped up.

"Wait, so that was all for my benefit?" the raven-haired boy asked.

"That, and I wanted to see that damned prep's face when that 'black-out' ended," the dark teen admitted, "but, since apparently something happened in the past twenty five minutes to make him ignore me…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, what was that all about?" Ben asked, bringing them back to the previous subject. His eyes suddenly fell on his cousin. She was standing stiff as a board, staring at nothing, her face a mask of shock. "Gwen?" he asked, concern showing in his voice, "Are you okay?"

"You…" she breathed, lifting her head to look at Kevin. As soon as her emerald green eyes met his obsidian ones, the look on her face turned to hatred and murder. "CONNED ME?"

"Uh oh," was the only thing the ex-con had time to say, before bolting from the balcony, a furious red head at his heels.

"So," said Ben, watching as the two teens ran off down the hall, "who wants to get some dinner before those two make up and force us to sit through one of their kissing marathons?'

"How much time do we have?" Kenny, who had seen quite enough of people sticking their tongues down each other's throats for one day, inquired.

"Five to ten minutes," the brunette teen promised.

There was silence in the room, before Devlin suddenly yelled out: "Race you there!" and bolted past the teen and the parallel version of his son. It took them only a moment to react. Both of them slammed down their watches at the same time, each turning into a different alien. Ben changed into Spidermonkey, and Kenny turned into Xlr8.

Jenny rolled her eyes as the boys left her, once again, alone. She sighed and said a transportation spell, taking her to the dining room, which was just seven corridors down. She would have a headache tomorrow morning, but as long as it was gone by the time of her parents' anniversary party, they wouldn't even notice it.

Once the adult Gwen and her husband had arrived in the dining room, they took their seats at the table. It usually only had to hold five people's meals, but was built to hold at least twenty. Ben was sitting at one end of the table, his daughter next to him, and wife beside her. Grandpa Max was sitting on Ben's other side, Gwen next to him and Edwin next to her.

"So, what's for dinner?" the red head asked, looking down at the meals in front of her. There was everything from fruit, to vegetables, to soup, to pizza, to pasta, to meat, to chicken, to fish, to mushrooms, to dessert. It figured. Only the best for Earth's greatest hero.

"I had the chef make everything in the fridge," the Native American woman told her, "Just in case there was something you actually ate, Gwen."

The two women's husbands exchanged desperate looks. They were helpless when it came to their wives' fights, although neither one wanted to admit it.

The annodyte's eyes narrowed as a fake smile plastered itself onto her mouth. She picked up her fork and speared a mushroom from the plate nearest her, which she then popped into her mouth.

"Hmm," the green-eyed woman hummed, chewing then swallowing the bite-sized piece of food, "Shouldn't there be a village somewhere in Iraq starving to death by now?"

Kai's coal-black eyes narrowed at her in-law. She knew that Gwen knew the total amount of people that just one meal in the Tennyson household could feed in an entire week. But was it her fault that the people of the world loved her husband so much that they brought gifts nearly every other day?

"You know, it's such a shame," she said in a sugar-sweet voice, "I would hate to have to scratch your eyes out the day before your anniversary."

A smirk brightened the red haired woman's face.

"Bring it on," she challenged. The two were already leaning towards each other across the table. Ben and Edwin immediately sprang to life. Each grabbed his spouse around the waist, keeping her rooted to her chair.

"Take it easy, Kai!" Ben cried, as his wife's perfectly manicured nails dug into his arms. Why, oh why did he not wear long-sleeved shirts?

"Calm down, Gwen!" Edwin managed through gritted teeth as he struggled to keep her pinned to the chair.

"Kai! Gwen!" Max cried, springing out of his chair surprisingly fast for someone who was near a hundred years old, "Both of you, settle down!"

Both of them gradually settled down, until their husbands no longer needed to hold them down. Now they merely sulked in their chairs, noses turned up like spoiled, little girls', arms and legs crossed stubbornly.

"Now, in case you're forgetting, there's a 13-year-old girl at this table, so please, try to control yourselves!" the retired Plumber snapped, falling back into his chair.

Just then a light snore came from beside Kai's chair, and everyone turned to see Gwendolyn had fallen asleep with her arms crossed on the table, a poor substitute for a pillow. The bearer of the Omnitrix sighed as he stood and picked up his daughter.

"I'll take her to bed," he announced, "She's had a long day. Can I trust you two not to kill each other while I'm gone?"

"Fine," the two women grumbled, catching each other's eyes and glaring at one another.

"The things I have to put up with around here…" the hero grumbled as he left the room, carrying the girl bridal-style.

"So, Edwin," said Kai, suddenly, turning her full attention to her cousin-in-law, "I can't believe you managed not to say anything to Devlin about that practical joke he played."

"Hardest thing I've ever had to do," the raven-haired man muttered. It was no lie either.

"I'm proud of you," his wife told him, turning back to face him. The hostile expression she'd worn with Kai had disappeared, a gentle one taking its place. "You're at least making an effort."

"How could I not?" Edwin scoffed, casting her a brief smile, "You threatened to throw all those lawn mowers Ben gave us in the river and tell him I burned them all in a bonfire."

"Gwen," said Max, a frown on his face that completely didn't match the twinkling in his eye. Despite the firm charade the old man was putting on, it was clear he was enjoying this.

"Don't get me wrong," Edwin added, evidently not having heard his wife's grandfather's warning, "I still hate that kid."

Just then there was a brief flash of light and suddenly, Jenny was standing in the centre of the table, one foot in the mashed potatoes, the other in the pasta.

"Oh no!" the girl cried, stepping out of the food and inspecting her now ruined shoes and jeans, not even pretending to care about the food. She knew her ant and uncle had plenty to spare. "These were brand new!"

"No problem, sweetheart," her mother promised, as her father lifted her from the table and sat her down beside him. The red head leaned over her husband and muttered a spell, immediately making the food disappear from her daughter's previously ruined jeans and sneakers.

"Jenny," Kai spoke up as if though her Goddaughter hadn't just magically appeared in front of her from out of nowhere and ruined the meal her chef had probably worked on all day to prepare, "where is everyone else?"

"Devlin, Kenny, and Future Kenny are racing over here," the younger red head replied, "And Future Me is busy chasing around Future Devlin. I don't think they'll be joining us."

"Why is she chasing him?" Edwin asked, a slight frown on his face.

"I don't know, but as soon as I find out I'll be sure to let you know," the annodyte lied, looking around at the food on the table, "Wow, what did you guys do? Rob a supermarket?"

Edwin burst out laughing while Kai glared at them both.

"What?" the younger red head asked, looking around for any indication of what she had just done, "What did I say?"

"Nothing, sweetheart," Max said, chuckling as well. Just then, the door burst open and this time, Spidermonkey ran into the room, followed by the mutated version of Devlin, and Xlr8. The latter was hopping on one foot and seemed to be cocooned in cob webs, while the first was leaving a trail of them behind him, and attempting to remove one from his shoulder.

"I win!" Spidermonkey cackled, "Well, I guess that about wraps things up!"

Everyone exchanged looks at the teen's lame joke.

"You are an idiot," Devlin declared, turning back to his human self.

"Devlin!" Kai cried, jumping up from her seat, "Language!"

"I only said idiot," the boy said, shrugging as he tried to disentangle himself from the large cob web that still refused to budge, "You use it all the time."

"Oh, alright, then," the woman said, sitting back down, staring at her lap. The teenage Ben turned back to his normal self, too and tried to help his son disentangle himself. This only resulted in getting caught in the cob web, too, and struggling to break free.

Devlin was on the floor, rolling around and laughing his head off, getting even more tangled up in the cobweb. No one else could contain themselves either. Jenny was struggling not to fall out of her chair!

The alien and human toppled onto the floor and started rolling around like some giant, disproportionate ball of yarn. For some unknown reason, Ben 10,000 chose that moment to open the door and step inside, right in the path of the ball! It rolled on top of the man, trapping him like a fly.

"Kenny!" he cried as they rolled around the room, "What's going on?"

"Not now Dad!" the boy yelled back, changing back to his human self.

The door opened for the tenth time in the past few minutes, this time revealing Kevin and the teenage Gwen. Both teens froze at the sight that greeted them. Their eyes followed the ball of Tennysons as it rolled around and around the dining room. Finally the teenage red head stretched out her hand. A large beam of manna shot from it and created a shield to stop the ball.

"Ugh," Kenny groaned, "I think I'm gonna hurl."

"What are you three doing?" the annodyte asked, as she and her boyfriend stepped forward, amused smiles on their faces.

"You know, just rolling around," her cousin said, attempting to shrug.

"No kidding," Kevin laughed, "This is even funnier than what happened at Jenny's dance!"

"What…happened?" Jenny struggled to get out. She actually had fallen out of her chair and was now having trouble getting back up, especially since it was clear her laughing fit wasn't over yet.

"You'll find out," the teenage version of her mother promised. She turned to look at the osmosian beside her. "Go help Devlin."

The raven-haired teen shrugged and went to help his son. He absorbed the metal floor and morphed his hand into scissors. In no time, the boy was free. Meanwhile, the three Tennysons had to go through the pain and humiliation of the red head burning off the web, while lecturing them.

"Tell me it wasn't Wrath who did this," she said to the teenage Ben, beams of manna shooting from her eyes as she worked on freeing the adult him.

"No, Spidermonkey," the teen hero told her.

"You need to be more careful," she snapped.

"You really are Gwen's daughter," Ben 10,000 muttered. The beam of manna burned hotter and 'accidentally' singed his flesh. "Ow!" the man cried. A satisfied smile graced the red head's mouth as she didn't even bother to say a fake sorry.

"Awesome!" Kenny cried, watching as his parallel father's best friend cut his adopted brother loose with his literally hand-made scissors, "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Second time I got mutated," the raven-haired teen answered, "Heads up, Jen!"

A small ball of cob webs flew at the 16-year-old girl. She immediately turned her head to burn them with the manna.

"So, that's how come you got your new powers," Ben 10,000 muttered.

"How did you get mutated?" the adult Gwen asked, frowning at the dark teen.

"You'll find out," he muttered, "By the way, kid, don't try to hack the Omnitrixge." His midnight blue eyes were hard as they locked on his son's.

"He's right," the teenage Ben said, as his cousin finished with the adult version of him. The man uttered a quick thanks before sulking back to his place at the dinner table. Gwen moved onto the teenage Ben. "It'll make him unbearable to be around, she'll be spending all her time at the library, he'll make out with Charmcaster's daughter, she'll lose her powers, we'll all end up helping Vilgax, and then these two are gonna make out on a battleship in front of Great-grandpa Max."

There was silence as everyone struggled to figure out what one thing had to do with the other. The teenage Gwen's eyes had been burning a hole in one place for so long that it had burned through to the floor. A small train of smoke started climbing up to the ceiling, triggering a smoke detector, and making it rain down from the ceiling, soaking everyone.

"AH!" Kai squealed, trying to keep her hair from getting ruined. Similar shouts could be heard from everyone else. In no time at all, everyone was drenched and freezing. The only good part was that the water melted the webs, making it easier to pry them off.

"Could tonight get any worse?" Edwin sulked, glaring at the table.

A/N: Well, that's chapter 7! Hope you loved it! Sorry about the late update. Those of you who read No Way! Know that I'm in the country and have nearly no access to the internet. My grandfather's computer does have an internet connection, though, but I'm not allowed to use it. In fact I had to sneak into his office to put it up. Oh well. It's for a good cause. Anyway, R&R!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey, guys! So sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been a little busy. Thanks for the amazing reviews, ideas, suggestions, and, well, everything! You guys are awesome! =)

* * *

><p>Some time after the water catastrophe, everyone found themselves in the living room, completely drenched, blankets wrapped around their shoulders for warmth. Ben 10,000, Kai, the adult Gwen, and Edwin were standing in the corner while the teens and kids were sitting on the couches. Max had disappeared to go to the Rustbucket and change into something dry.<p>

"What do you think they're gonna do?" teenage Gwen asked in a quiet voice as she glanced nervously at the four adults in the corner.

"Probably nothing," Kevin tried to assure her, pulling an arm free from under the blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders, tugging her closer, "Tennyson can't ground me, and you're the perfect little angel. What can they do?" There was a smirk on his face as he said the last part.

The red head raised her eyebrows, seemingly surprised.

"I'm a perfect little angel?" she repeated, half amused, half incredulous, "Really, Kev?"

"Kev?" Gwendolyn repeated, frowning as she looked up from the table she had been staring at for the past couple of minutes, "As in Kev_in_?"

"She said 'Dev'," Kenny said in a harsh voice, glaring at his thirteen-year-old sister, "Jeez, Gwendolyn, are you deaf?"

"No, doofus," the girl snapped back, rolling her chocolate-brown eyes, "But you seem to be coming down with a severe case of DS."

"What the heck is that?" the 10-year-old asked, frowning as if though he was genuinely curious.

"Dweeb Syndrome," the dark-haired girl said, a proud smile on her face.

"Hilarious, freakazoid," her brother said, rolling his emerald green eyes.

"Whatever," Gwendolyn said with a shrug, and, tightening the blanket around her, stood up and turned to head in the direction of the doorway, "I'm going to bed." She turned on her heel and marched out.

"Now that could be your daughter," Ben muttered, immediately receiving a hit in the head from his cousin, "Ow!"

"Shut up," she snapped.

"Whatever you say, Gwen," the 16-year-old stated and turned his head in the direction of the four grown ups, "Your 'dad' seems pretty mad, though."

"Three guesses who at," the osmosian muttered, turning back to see for himself. Indeed, Edwin's face was getting red with the effort of not yelling loud enough for the kids to hear. His wife thumped him in the arm and hissed at him to be quiet. A smirk crossed the 17-year-old's lips as he watched the scene unfold.

"Me," Devlin said bitterly, rolling his midnight blue eyes.

"I'm sure once he finds out it was Kevin he won't hate you that much," Jenny said in an effort to be encouraging.

"Gee, thanks," the boy murmured.

"Yeah, sorry about that," the raven-haired teen said to his son, genuinely apologetic.

Devlin smiled a sad smile in return. He knew Kevin hadn't meant to make Devlin Public Enemy Nr 1 in Jenny's father's eyes. And, quite frankly, the boy had no idea why he even cared. Sure, the man was Jenny's father and all, but what did that have to do with him?

"Maybe Kevin oughtta coach you in how to suck up to your girlfriend's, or in your case, probable future girlfriend's, father," the brunette teen snickered. His son joined in.

"Seriously?" Kenny laughed.

"You should see him," the young hero continued, that smile never vanishing, "It's like he's an officer at the Plumber's Academy, or something."

"Tennyson, I give you three seconds to run," the older teen snapped, already poised for a chase.

"Uh oh," Ben muttered, and, throwing the blanket off, he ran out of the living room, his best friend on his heels. The heavy, indigo fabric fell down into a heap on the floor, nearly causing the 17-year-old to trip over it. The adults looked up from their conversation as the two boys zipped passed them.

The teenage Gwen looked after them with a smile on her face. The three kids were still laughing at what the young hero had said.

"Was he serious?" Jenny asked, once the laughter had subsided.

"Yes," the blue-eyed 16-year-old confirmed, her eyes practically dancing, "But don't tell that to Kevin. He'll stop then, and, well, who knows what would happen?"

"Not to mention you wouldn't have any fun when he comes over, right?" Devlin added, a slight smile on his face.

"You know, there's one thing about Kevin that I've never gotten used to," Gwen said, her eyes slightly narrowed, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "He can read me like a book. You have that same quality."

Devlin frowned in confusion for a moment, but then gave a brisk nod, deciding to take the red head's words as a yes.

"Is that good?" Jenny asked, her blue eyes wide with child-like curiosity.

"Sometimes," her parallel mother half confirmed, sitting back, signaling that the subject was closed.

"How did that even happen?" from out of nowhere, Kenny suddenly asked, "You and Kevin?"

"Some other time," the girl said, nodding at the direction of their approaching parents.

"Jenny," said the adult Gwen in a gentle voice, her emerald green eyes earnest as they looked at the teenage version of herself, disguised as the young anodite, "Can we talk to you for a moment, please?"

"Of course," her 'daughter' agreed and let her and Edwin lead her away.

"What are they gonna do?" Kenny asked his own parents, looking up at them.

"It was an accident," Ben 10,000 said with a shrug, "There's not really all that much we can do about that."

"Then what's with the sidebar?" Devlin asked, motioning at his parallel father's girlfriend and her parallel daughter's parents in the corner with a jerk of his head.

"Ed thinks you got her to do that as a prank," Kai said dismissively, waving it away, "Well, the teenage you."

"Ugh, great," the raven-haired boy groaned.

"I'm sorry about dinner, Ant Kai," Jenny said quietly, looking down at her lap.

"Don't worry about it, Jenny," the woman sighed, "We're gonna stuff ourselves at the party tomorrow anyway, so there's no real harm done."

"Speaking of tomorrow's party," Devlin said, a suspicious look in his midnight-blue eyes, "Are we gonna have to, you know, slow dance?"

"It's Gwen's party," Ben 10,000 said, rolling his eyes like it should've been obvious, "Of course we're gonna have to slow dance."

"Wait, we as in you, Mom, Uncle Ed, and Aunt Gwen," said Kenny, his eyes wide with worry, "or we as in everyone, including me, Jenny, and Devlin."

"The second one," said his mother, now both her and her husband's eyes shining in amusement.

"What?" the boy cried, shooting up out of his seat, hands buried in his still wet hair, "I don't know how to dance!"

"Tough luck, kid," his father laughed, ruffled his son's hair and turned around to go talk to his cousin and her possibly insane husband, who had just finished talking to Teenage Jenny.

"Well, at least I won't be the only one there who's gonna make a complete idiot of himself," the green-eyed boy said with a slightly relieved sigh and a glance in the direction of his adopted brother.

"No can do, bro," the boy smirked, "Jenny taught me how to dance up on that rooftop."

"Seriously?" the brunette boy asked, eyes wide with surprise as he fell back into his seat on the couch, all hope of tomorrow night turning out okay vanishing.

"Yep," his cousin confirmed, nodding her head and then turning to the boy her parents believed she would be dating in six years, "It took me under an hour. You sure you've never learned before?"

"Oh, yeah," Devlin answered sarcastically, "My dad's a world class dancer. In fact it's right below 'homicidal killer' on his resume."

Jenny laughed in response.

"If you want I can teach you," she offered, her blue eyes shining wickedly as she addressed her cousin.

"Pass," Kenny said, smirking.

"You are exactly like Ben," the adult Gwen's voice interrupted the conversation, "He wouldn't let me teach him when we were kids, either."

The adults and the teenage Gwen settled on the couches around them. A smile laced the red haired woman's moth as she exchanged devious looks with her moron of a cousin.

"I remember that," the 16-year-old red head said, a brief smile on her lips.

Everyone gave her strange looks.

"I mean, I remember you telling us that," she hastened to correct herself.

"Right," said Edwin slowly.

"So, why don't you tell us something about the future, Jenny?" Kai suggested, smiling at her, "Like why do you hate being called Jennifer?"

"She can't tell us anything, or she could risk messing up the space time continuum," the adult red head barked at her in-law.

"Well, excuse me for making polite conversation," the Native American bit back, glaring at her.

"Oh, I'll excuse you, alright," Gwen hissed, her green eyes narrowed.

"Gwen! Kai!" Ben 10,000 exclaimed, shooting up and holding his hands up, his blanket falling into an unceremonial heap on his seat next to Kai. Across from them Gwen and her husband were sitting with the 16-year-old girl, and on the couch next to them were the three kids. "Not in front of the kids," he whispered, sitting back down.

"How about we drink some hot chocolate and Kenny and Devlin can tell us how many aliens they've beaten up in the past week," the teenage Gwen suggested, obviously not wanting to witness a fight between her and her cousin's wife from another dimension.

"Good idea," Kai stated, giving the girl a wide smile, "I'll have Alejandro bring it to us."

"Oh, so now you import your help?" the green-eyed woman asked, seemingly innocently.

"Kai!" Ben growled, seeing that she was about to lunge for his cousin's throat. The woman took a deep breath and smiled sweetly at her cousin-in-law.

"No, _Gwendolyn_, we do not," she said calmly.

"This is gonna be one hell of a night," Jenny muttered, slapping her hand to her forehead.

* * *

><p>A few hallways away, Kevin had been chasing Ben for who knew how long, and both teens were starting to get tired. Neither one had even thought of using his powers, even though that probably would've made the chase more fun, but for now they just wanted to relish in the feeling of normality. Like two brothers having a game of tag as kids. It was just as fun like this, and the hallways in the Tennyson mansion, headquarters, or whatever this place was, were an excellent maze.<p>

"Alright," Ben panted, finally coming to a stop. He leaned his hands on his knees, trying to get his breath back, and held one hand in the direction of his friend. "Truce."

The osmosian stopped as well, narrowing his eyes and leaning back against the wall. He was out of breath, too, but years of being on the run had taught him never to reveal that he was weak, even if it was to the stupidest boy alive.

"Alright," he finally agreed, "truce." He stepped forward to shake the boy's hand and in one move had him in a headlock.

"Ah! Kevin!" the young hero screamed, as the osmosian rubbed his knuckle into his friend's skull, "Quit it!"

Suddenly, they heard a moan from somewhere down the hall. Both teens froze. They heard it again. Kevin released Ben and they both looked around cautiously.

"Did you hear that?" the 17-year-old asked in a half-whisper.

"Yep," his companion confirmed, "But it was probably just the wind. This place is so huge it probably just wanders through all the-"

He was cut off by another moan, this time louder.

"That ain't the wind, that's for sure," the osmosian said, frowning at the direction from where the sound was coming from.

"Some alien pet, then?" the brunette teen suggested, his eyes wide with fear as he looked around.

"Quit stalling and let's go check it out," his friend barked and started walking down the hallway cautiously, past the frightened boy, "What's with you, anyway? Usually Gwen and I have to talk you out of going after things that make weird sounds. Not that you ever listen to us, but still."

"Well, we're not usually trapped in a parallel universe where you're still evil, are we?" Ben asked, slightly wary as he followed the raven-haired teen.

"Shh," Kevin hissed, putting a finger to his lips and stretching out his hand to stop the 16-year-old from going any further, "It's coming from over here."

They slowly peered around the corner and gasped. Lying in the middle of the hallway was a pale, wrinkled, fragile being in Gwendolyn's blue dress. Her blanket was lying in a heap next to the young girl. She was struggling to get up, and her arms threatened to give out from under her any second now. The two boys ran over to her.

"Gwendolyn!" Ben cried as they knelt down next to her, "What happened? Who did this to you?"

The girl's only response was another moan as she turned her head to look into her brother's concerned emerald green eyes. Her dark eyes closed and her head lolled back onto the floor. She knew she was safe now.

"Let's get her to Gwen," Kevin suggested, easily scooping the dark-haired girl into his large, masculine arms and carrying her back the way they had come from. The two teens ran the rest of the way there, and arrived in half the time it had taken them to get to the girl, despite the fact that Kevin was carrying something, and both were still slightly out of breath. They burst in through the living room door and interrupted the fight that had just started between Kai and the adult Gwen.

"Gwendolyn!" Kai exclaimed, and in a flash everyone was crowding the two teens, asking what had happened, was she alright, where had they found her, how did this happen, and, in Edwin's case, what had they done.

"We didn't do nothing," the osmosian snapped at the man, "Unless you count bringing your Goddaughter back safe."

Edwin glowered at the teen for a moment, and then appeared to deem it useless to continue the argument. There had been enough fights for today.

"Everybody back off," the teenage Gwen disguised as Jenny snapped and pushed her way through the small crowd so that she was leaning over Gwendolyn's body, "I know a spell."

"Jenny," the adult red head said gently, "We don't even know what's wrong with her."

"Gwen's right," Ben 10,000 agreed, "We'll have someone examine her, and you can try your little spell out then."

"If she says she knows what to do, she knows what to do," Kevin insisted, his midnight blue eyes hard.

"And in the morning…" Kai sobbed, tears pouring down her face, "…she might as well be dead!" The Native American started shaking involuntarily.

"Oh, Kai," the green-eyed woman breathed and moved so that she could easily wrap her arms around her rival, pulling her into a comforting embrace, "Gwendolyn's gonna be fine."

The adult Ben and Edwin exchanged confused looks, both of them silently asking the other: _What the heck is going on with them?_

"I know what's wrong with Gwendolyn," the teenage red head assured them, her eyes wide and pleading, "Please, I can help her. Just let me _try_."

"Alright," the adult hero agreed, "But if it doesn't work, we're sending her to the infirmary."

"Fine," the 16-year-old agreed, "Devlin, set her down."

The raven-haired teen lay the girl down and the anodite leaned over her, putting her hands on the small girl's chest. She lowered her head and started muttering what just sounded like nonsense to every non-magical being in the room. Soon, pink manna started enveloping the girl's body, all of it seemingly seeping from the red head's outstretched hands. Her wrinkles started to smooth out, and color started coming back to her face. With a gasp the girl opened her eyes. At that moment all the pink light radiating from her vanished, as the teenage Gwen pulled her hands off and collapsed into her boyfriend's waiting arms.

"You okay?" he breathed, lifting her so that she was somewhat in a sitting position.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Gwendolyn!" the girl's mother cried, and with that the 13-year-old was enveloped in cries of relief.

"Ahem," a soft voice interrupted them. Everyone turned to see Max Tennyson leaning against the doorway, a frown on his face.

"Everything okay?" Kevin asked in a concerned voice.

"No," Max admitted, shaking his bald head as e stepped into the room, "I think you better come and see this."

Everyone exchanged wary glances.

"What is it?" Kenny asked.

"I'm not sure," the old man answered, shaking his head.

"Is Kevin out of the Null Void again?" Ben 10,000 inquired, frowning as he stood up and stepped towards his grandfather.

"I…don't know," the retired Plumber stated, shaking his head in confusion, "You better come and see it for yourselves."

"Let's go," the adult Gwen said grimly, stood up, and started to leave the room along with her cousin.

"Wait!" Kai cried, still standing by her daughter, "What about Gwendolyn?"

"Yeah," the teenage Ben agreed, "Whatever it is can wait until after the party. We need to take care of my sister."

"And you should get some rest, too," Kevin added, and looked down at the red head in his arms.

"I'm fine," she insisted and tried to get him to let her go. The 17-year-old only tightened his hold on her and stood up carefully. "You worry too much."

"I don't worry enough," the osmosian corrected her. The girl huffed and tried to look indignant in her boyfriend's arms, and not like she was thoroughly enjoying this.

"Devlin's right, Jen," Max said and he and the raven-haired teen exchanged secret smiles, "You need some sleep. Kenny, show them where the guestroom is."

"We have at least a hundred guestrooms," the 10-year-old snapped, crossing his arms on his chest, "And I don't even know where most of them are!"

"I'll show them," his red-haired cousin promised, stood up as well, and started leading the two teens out of the room. The parallel teenage version of her mother looked annoyed at being carried like that, while her boyfriend looked rather pleased with himself.

The old man chuckled at them.

"Kai, get Gwendolyn down to the infirmary," Ben 10,000 told his wife, "I mean, she looks fine, but just in case. The rest of us will go check…whatever it is that Grandpa Max wanted us to check."

"You know, it was nothing," Max said suddenly, waving his words away with his mechanical hand, "Kenny's right. It can wait. Go take care of your daughter."

The hero still didn't look convinced.

"But I'm fine!" Gwendolyn insisted as her mother tried to get her to go to the infirmary. Her father gave a sigh of defeat and went to kneel down next to his beloved daughter like the remainder of his family was doing. Max smiled a small smile and left the room.

"The teenage Devlin just carried you in here unconscious, and looking like an old person!" her younger brother huffed, "You're not fine!"

"What happened, anyway?" Devlin asked, frowning at his adopted sister.

"I don't remember," she said, shaking her head, and placing a hand against her forehead, "It's all just…a blur."

"Well, then, what do you remember?" the teenage version of Ben disguised as Kenny asked.

"I remember…black," she said, confusion lighting behind her chocolate brown eyes, "Black…tendrils…They were suffocating me…draining all of my energy out…It was scary."

There was silence as the 13-year-old's words sunk in. Then Kenny and Devlin burst out laughing.

"You really…expect us…to believe that?" the brunette boy gasped in between his laughter.

"Is there anything else?" the adult Gwen asked, completely ignoring the two boys, "Because that could have been anything. Charmcaster, the poisonous plant I gave your mother for her birthday from Anodine…"

"What?" Kai cried, looking at her in outrage and fear.

"Oh, relax," the red haired woman snapped, "It's not like it's gonna strangle you."

Her in-law narrowed her eyes at her in distrust.

"I don't remember anything else," Gwendolyn stated, shaking her dark hair, "Can I please just go to bed?"

"Of course," Ben 10,000 agreed and took the girl's hand to help her up, "We'll figure all of this out later."

"Preferably after my anniversary," his cousin added, narrowing her emerald green eyes at him as she and the others stood up as well.

"Right," he promised and turned to his two sons, "Boys, show Kenny where he can stay for the night. And take Gwendolyn back to her room while you're at it."

"Alright, Dad," the green-eyed boy said, and, rolling his eyes, he and Devlin left the room. They led Ben and the Native American girl down a long hallway, probably to where one of the hundreds of guestrooms that Kenny actually knew about was.

"Edwin?" the adult Gwen said cautiously once they were gone, "Is everything alright?" Her husband was staring, - no, _glowering_, - at the floor.

"Our Goddaughter just got drained of energy, or daughter gave it back to her, and now she's probably passed out somewhere while that Levin boy goes to get a snack," he snapped, "No, I am not alright!"

"I know what you're thinking, Ed," the red head said gently, "He didn't do it. He's not Kevin."

"Of course he's not," the raven-haired man said sarcastically. They both stood up from where they had been crouching down on the floor. "Well, I'm going to bed," he said, already heading for the doorway, "Wanna join me?" There was a hint of fun in the man's voice that was hardly ever present nowadays. It made Gwen smile as she looked into his ice blue eyes, and remember the reason she had married him in the first place. Sure, he could be a little overprotective, stubborn, and sometimes even selfish, but wasn't every man?

"Of course," she agreed, took his hand and let him lead her to their bedroom.

Kai watched after them with slightly amused and slightly scornful eyes.

"Looks like all's well in Paradise," her husband said, wrapping his arms around her thin waist and pulling her close.

"Yep," the dark-haired woman agreed, leaning into his muscular body and loving embrace, "All's well that ends well."

_But why do I have a feeling that this is just the beginning?_

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you guys liked it! I'm a little worried about the ending though. R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks so much for the awesome reviews! All of you who guessed the identity of the villain got it right. It's Darkstar! Dun dun dun! I love all of you, and I am so sorry that this chapter took so long. But, without further ado, here's chapter nine!

Marin Barnard, I guess you're right. Have you read the latest chapter of No Way? I left you instructions how to make a connection on DocX on your profile. I can't wait to see what your idea is! =) And thanks for the reviews, too!

* * *

><p>"Are you really sure you don't remember anything else?" the teenage Ben pestered Gwendolyn as he and his two sons led her to her room.<p>

"I already told you, no!" she snapped at him, "Wow, you really are as much of an idiot in the future as you are now."

"Eh, you get used to it," Devlin assured her with a shrug.

"Gee, thanks, bro," the green-eyed 10-year-old said sarcastically.

"Don't mention it," his adopted brother said, a large smile on his pale face.

"So, really? Nothing?" Ben continued, not letting the subject go, apparently oblivious to everything else. When Ben started thinking about something, there was nothing that could put his mind at ease until he got the answer he was looking for. "Did it have a face? What colors did you see other than black?"

"Mom and Dad must have dropped you on your head when you were little," his sister growled, "Listen to me carefully, Kenneth Maxwell Tennyson: I. Don't. Remember. Now, we're at my room. Goodnight."

With that she punched in a code on the number pad beside the door, and, when it swung open, marched in dramatically.

"Dude, your sister is such a drama queen," the raven-haired boy stated as they stared for a moment at the space where she had just disappeared.

Kenny, ignoring his friend, turned to the teenage parallel version of his father. His eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed locked deep in thought.

"Are you okay, Dad?" he asked warily, afraid of the answer. Whenever Ben 10,000 had that look on his face, it always meant bad news, and, for some reason, the young boy had a feeling this time would be no different.

"I think I know what attacked Gwendolyn," he said slowly, and finally seemed to come to a decision. He lifted his emerald green gaze and turned to the two brothers determinedly. "We need to see Kevin and Gwen."

"'We'?" Kenny repeated incredulously.

"Yes, we," the teen confirmed, "Unless you guys want to miss out on all the fun…"

The two kids exchanged devious looks and turned back to him.

"No way," Devlin stated, shaking his head, a smile on his face.

"It's just that Dad never lets us in on any missions," the Native American complained, "He never lets us in on anything!"

"Well, I'm not him," Ben stated, "I'm a parallel, more awesome version that's letting you two in on this. So, where are Kevin and Gwen, anyway?"

"Well, Jenny would know that, but she's probably already in bed," the red head's cousin said.

"And where's her bedroom?" the girl's future boyfriend asked, not believing that his adopted brother could be this stupid. Then again, he was Ben Tennyson's son, and if recent events had proved anything, it was a miracle he wasn't more stupid.

"I don't know the way there," Kenny said, shrugging slightly, "When we were younger I used to scare her awake in the mornings, and then I just said: 'Room J7' and next thing I knew, I was dropped down from her ceiling."

"Okay, then I guess we'll just have to try to find them ourselves," the 16-year-old said, and seemed lost deep in thought again as he started pacing back and forth slowly.

Devlin's eyes widened in disbelief. He cold hardly believe anyone could be this dumb.

"I have new respect for Gwen and Kevin," he declared, glaring from one face to the other, "You guys are the biggest idiots in the universe!"

"What did we do?" Ben asked innocently as Devlin grabbed both of their arms.

"Room J7," he said to the ceiling, not bothering to answer the hero's question.

* * *

><p>Outside the hallway of the living room, Max hurried after the two red haired girls and Kevin. He had been lying – what he saw downstairs on the security cameras couldn't wait. He had seen the thing that had attacked Gwendolyn, but it was like nothing the man had seen in all his life. Perhaps it was something from the other universe that had followed them the heroes there.<p>

He caught up to them only a minute later. Kevin and Jenny paused and turned around, curious as to what was after them.

"Great-grandpa Max?" Jenny asked, frowning at the man, "What is it?"

"You two," he panted, pointing at Gwen and Kevin, "should come see this."

"What is it?" Gwen asked, "And Kevin, please put me down."

Her boyfriend rolled his eyes and set her down.

"The thing that…attacked Gwendolyn," Max gasped, "I don't know what it is…but you kids might."

"Because they're from the future?" Jenny asked, frowning nervously.

"Because he knows we're from a parallel universe," Kevin corrected her. Both girls looked at him in shock. Had Kevin really been that big so stupid as to tell their secret to someone so close to the people who would undoubtedly want to throw him back into the Null Void?

"Hey, I didn't tell him," the 17-year-old defended himself, "He saw the security tapes."

"The security…" Gwen trailed off, slapping her hand against her forehead at their stupidity. Of course there were cameras everywhere! At the home of Earth's greatest hero, it would be dumb not to have them.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Max told her, gently stretching out his human hand and stroking his granddaughter's arm, "I erased the footage. They won't find out until you tell them the truth."

The anodite smiled a small smile at her grandfather. She didn't know why he trusted her, and, more importantly, Kevin, but she was grateful he did. Kevin meant the world – literally – to her, and she most definitely did not want him to end up locked in some prison cell for the rest of his life.

"So, what did you want them to check out?" Jenny asked, interrupting the moment.

"Gwendolyn's attacker," Max repeated, "Come on, let's get down to the basement."

"I can come, too?" the 10-year-old asked in surprise. Her parents and everyone else in the family were always so concerned about her well being, that they never let her get in the middle of anything. Despite the fact that she was as good at magic as her mother had been at that age. Maybe even better.

"Duh," said Kevin, rolling his midnight blue eyes, "I'm pretty sure that if we didn't let you, you'd just come anyway. Like Gwen always does when we tell her to stay put."

"True," his girlfriend said, rolling her eyes as well and taking his hand, "But I wouldn't have to do that if you didn't worry so much all the time."

"How about you two finish this discussion later after we've watched the film?" the retired Plumber suggested, smiling slightly at the couple. The sad truth was that he had never liked Edwin, and now, seeing these two together, it was obvious that Kevin was much better for his beloved granddaughter. At least in that universe.

"Alright," the 16-year-old agreed at the same time the osmosian huffed, "Fine."

The four of them hurried down to the end of the hallway, down a flight of stairs, down another hallway, came to an abrupt halt at a door, and then down another flight of stairs.

"Don't you people have elevators?" Kevin snapped once they were standing in the lab and Max was leading them to his RV.

"Nope," the younger red haired girl said, shaking her head, "Ant Kai thought that would be a waste of money."

The raven-haired teen's eyes widened at the girl's words. He leaned down closer to the teenage version of her parallel mother and whispered:

"Remind me to pummel Tennyson into the ground the next time he dumps Julie."

The girl rolled her eyes again in dismissal. She had to admit, though, that of what she had understood of Kai Tennyson, the woman was selfish. Suddenly Kevin beating up her cousin for leaving a girl whose only crime was that she was a little too good-looking for him didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"Here we are," Max said and opened the door to his home. He walked over to the far wall and pressed a button. The wall slid open to reveal a screen. He pressed another button, and the hallway Kevin had chased Ben down earlier appeared on the screen. For a moment, everything was quiet, and then they heard the sound of someone's shoes tapping on the floor. A few seconds later Gwendolyn appeared, walking down the hall. She got to the middle of the screen, before freezing in her tracks, her eyes wide in fear at something that couldn't be seen by the camera.

"Where is Gwen?" the something hissed in a slightly familiar voice. Neither of the teens could figure out where they'd heard it before, though.

"Who are you?" the young girl whispered, taking a step back, ready to run. Her blanket fell off her shoulders and to the floor. As she took another step back, she tripped over it and scrambled backwards, trying to get as far from the invisible thing as possible.

"Why do they always have to make it so difficult?" it wondered out loud. Suddenly, there was a blur, and something black covered the 13-year-old's tiny figure.

Something like black light emanated from the creature, outlining it with sparkles. It groaned as if though tasting something delicious that had been kept away from him for a long time. He threw his head back and they caught the slightest glimpse of blonde hair, before it leaned back over the girl and whispered something too low for any of them to catch. Then, just like that, it disappeared.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that wasn't a plant," Jenny whispered, her eyes as wide and frightened as her cousin's had been in the film, "What was that thing?" She turned to look up into the eyes of the parallel version of her mother and her boyfriend.

The two teens turned away from the young girl to look at each other. One look and they knew they were thinking the same thing.

"Don't say it," Kevin breathed, his dark eyes pleading, "It can't be him."

"It is," Gwen whispered back, threading her fingers through his.

"No," Kevin said, shaking his head in denial.

"Who is it?" Jenny asked, her ice blue eyes now filled with wonder rather than fear.

Gwen didn't answer for a moment. She shook her head and, not taking her eyes off Kevin, stated, "We'll worry about it after the party."

"So, it's not important?" Max asked. He was beginning to wonder whether he was right to trust this strange younger version of his granddaughter.

"No," she said, shaking her head, "We'll worry about it when we have to."

"Okay," Jenny said. Kevin threw the 16-year-old anodite a grateful smile. Both of them knew who it was, or thought they did, but they also knew he wouldn't attack anyone else…for now. Gwen was right – they would worry about it when they had to worry about everything else, such as how to get home or the adult version of the green-eyed hero throwing Kevin into the Null Void before he even heard them out.

"If you two think that's what's best…" Max trailed off.

"Yeah, we do," said Kevin in a voice that gave no place for objections.

"Jenny, could you just show us where to sleep tonight?" Gwen asked, leaning down so that she could look the little girl in the eye, "And I promise, nothing's gonna hurt you, or your family tonight."

"She's right," the red head's boyfriend agreed, leaning down next to her, "Everything's gonna be okay."

The blue-eyed girl's eyes narrowed in thought as she looked the osmosian up and down.

"Are you sure you're Kevin Levin?" she asked suspiciously.

The teen chuckled.

"Positive," he stated, "Now, do what your parallel mother from another universe says and show us our bedrooms."

"Yes, sir," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and pushing around the three older people to exit the RV, "Goodnight, Great-grandpa Max."

"Goodnight, sweetheart," the retired Plumber smiled as he watched her leave.

"Sir?" Kevin repeated, smiling mischievously, "I think I'm starting to like that girl."

His girlfriend rolled her emerald green eyes and sighed.

"Goodnight, Grandpa Max," she said, gave the old man a kiss on the cheek, and hurried out of the RV after her parallel daughter.

"Goodnight, sir," Kevin said, giving the man a slight smile as he followed the anodite.

"Goodnight, kids," Max called and shut the door after them.

Jenny led the two teens out of the basement and upstairs, down another hallway, up another flight of stairs, down another hallway, around a corner, and finally stopped outside a door.

"You guys can sleep in here for tonight," she said, turning back to the two teens, "The code's 040694. Just don't tell my dad. He'd freak."

"Oh, we won't," Kevin promised her, a devilish smile on his face.

"Kevin," Gwen said in a low threatening voice.

"Fine, we won't," he barked resignedly and glared at his girlfriend, "Happy now?"

She smiled brightly, punched in the code, and the door slid open.

"Goodnight, sweetie," she said to Jenny as Kevin passed her.

"Yeah, goodnight, kid," he added.

"Goodnight," the girl said, a small smile on her face, "My room's down the hall, just so you know." She turned back and left the two teens in the doorway.

"She's right, you know," the osmosian stated as he and his girlfriend walked into the room. The red head hit the light switch the room was immediately flooded with light. "Any dad would freak if his daughter was spending the night in the same room as some guy."

"And the fact that you spend almost every night in my room doesn't count because…?" the anodite asked, a sly smile on her face.

The 17-year-old smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Let me rephrase that," he said, his smile widening, "Any dad would freak if they _knew_ their daughter was spending the night in the same room as some guy."

The girl smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You're right, they would," she agreed, her lips just a whisper away from his, "After all, you're not entirely trustworthy."

"Where've I heard that before?" he chuckled and brought his mouth down on hers.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Jenny walked over to her room and punched in the code to unlock the door. She was immediately met in a warm and sudden embrace.<p>

"Thank God you're okay," Devlin's muffled voice rang in her ear.

"Devlin?" she asked, surprised as she hugged him back, "What are you doing here?" She pulled away and looked over the boy's shoulder at her green-eyed cousin and his parallel father. They seemed slightly alarmed at Devlin's

"We came to ask you which room Kevin and Gwen were in, but when you weren't here, we thought that thing that attacked Gwendolyn got you too, and then Devlin got really freaked out and he wanted to go out and look for you, but Dad said that you'd be fine and that you were Gwen's daughter so you could take care of yourself, and-"

"Kenny?" the green-eyed teen interrupted his parallel son, "I think she got it."

"You, Kevin Levin's son, freaked out?" the red head asked Devlin, half mocking and half incredulous. There was an amused smile on her face as she said the words.

"Ha, ha," he said sarcastically, rolling his midnight blue eyes.

"Hey, lovebirds," the raven-haired boy's adopted brother snapped, "We still have a situation. Where's Kevin and Gwen?"

"We'll get to that later," Devlin told him distractedly, his eyes never straying from the young anodite, "What happened? Why weren't you here?"

"Well, after we left, I was about to take Gwen and Kevin to some bedroom nearby, and then Great Grandpa Max caught up to us," the girl explained, going to sit on her bed, "He said he wanted us to check out that videotape of the thing that attacked Gwendolyn."

"Wait, why you?" Ben interrupted, holding his hands up to stop her.

"Because he knew who you three are and, well, I guess he spoke to Kevin," Jenny said with a shrug.

"Great," the teen said sarcastically, "Now Grandpa Max is gonna tell on us, and then your parents are gonna lock Kevin up in the Null Void, and Gwen's gonna go anodite and destroy everyone. Just great. Nice job, Kevin."

"Yo, drama queen," Jenny snapped her fingers in front of the teen's face, "He's not gonna tell. He said that the secret was yours until you decided to tell everyone else."

"Oh, okay then," the young hero said, slightly embarrassed, "Go on."

"Anyway," the blue-eyed girl continued, rolling her eyes, "We went down to his RV and he showed us a video. It was some guy dressed all in black. He had blonde hair and left a sort of sparkly trail, but other than that, it was exactly as Gwendolyn described it: black. He took away-"

"Her life energy," Ben finished for her quietly.

"Yes," the girl confirmed, slightly annoyed at all the interruptions, "Now, would you please stop interrupting?"

"Sorry," the 16-year-old said frowning as he was lost deep in thought once again, "Did Gwen and Kevin say who it was?"

"No," Jenny answered, shaking her head, "They said it would have to wait until after the party."

"Are you sure?" the brunette teen asked warily.

"Yes, I'm positive," the girl confirmed, nodding her head furiously.

"Okay, then," he said, starting to head over to the door.

"Wait," Kenny called. The bearer of the Ultimatrix froze and turned around curiously. "Who was it?"

Ben sighed.

"Look, if Gwen thinks it can wait, it can wait," he stated, "We're just gonna have to trust her."

"Call me crazy, but is it at all possible that Gwen is, oh, I don't know, wrong?" Devlin asked, slight amusement masking the seriousness in his eyes. He honestly was worried about this.

"The last time I didn't listen to Gwen, I almost ended up killing someone," the teen said quietly, "I'm sorry, but, what she says, goes. Goodnight."

He opened the door and walked out.

"Did he just…?" Kenny trailed off.

"Yeah, he did," Jenny confirmed. An icy chill ran through all three kids as they wondered what had happened in that universe. Each one had a different theory, one that they weren't about to share with the others.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Devlin pressed a button, and it slid open to reveal the teen hero.

"Um, sorry, but where am I supposed to stay tonight?" he asked, and the spell was broken. Jenny got up and walked over to the door.

"Across the hall, third door to your right," she said, "Code's 555392."

"Thanks," Ben said and disappeared.

"You just gave him the code for Great-Grandpa Max's RV," Kenny informed her.

"I know," she said with a devilish glint in her azure eyes, "That's for not listening to my mom. Goodnight, you two."

Both boys exchanged looks as she went over to her closet and pressed a button to open it, before exiting the room as well, quickly saying goodnight.

"Your cousin's devious," Devlin said, stating the obvious.

"No duh," Kenny agreed, "'Night, man. Room K1." He was abruptly pulled into the side wall.

"Night," the raven-haired boy said to the emptiness, "Room D2."

Morning arrived quickly. Much too quickly for most of the house's inhabitants, who had been up half the night, but not the adult Gwen and Kai. The latter was sitting in the kitchen at the counter on a stool that a little more than vaguely resembled a bar stool, reading a cook book, while the cook herself was busy making breakfast.

"Oh, Eunice, why do I feel like today something horrible is gonna happen?" the dark haired woman asked her servant.

"Because it's Gwen's anniversary?" the blonde guessed, turning away from the stove and setting a plate of pancakes on the counter.

"Oh, right, that must be it," Kai agreed and turned back to the cook book. After a moment she slammed it shut and dropped it on the counter making Eunice jump. There was a faraway look in her dark eyes as she stared off into the distance.

"No, it's something else…" she mused as the maid very nearly dropped a plate of waffles, "And _please_ be careful! My daughter got attacked last night by something, and I want this breakfast to be perfect!"

"Whatever you say, Mrs. Tennyson," the young woman muttered, placing the plate on the counter.

Suddenly they heard footsteps out in the hallway and turned to see Gwen walk in, dressed in a dark blue tank top and black stretch pants. She had just been out for a morning jog.

"Good morning, Eunice," she said, smiling at the blonde, "Can I help you with something?"

"No, that's alright, Mrs. Goldsmith," the maid answered with a smile, "Can I get you some water, though?"

"I'll get it myself," the red head returned and walked over to the refrigerator, "And please call me Gwen."

"Hey, Gwen," said Kai, not giving her maid a chance to respond, "And I suppose I'm not here?"

"Oh, sorry," the anodite said, reappearing from behind the enormous door of the equally enormous kitchen appliance, "How could I have possibly missed your aura? It's as dark as the night sky."

"Sweetie, you really need to get some new insults," Kai said, feigning sympathy, "All this witchy stuff about auras? You're probably the only one who knows about it."

"And I know you could do better than 'sweetie'," the red haired woman shot back weakly.

"True, but I figured I'd give you a break," the Native American said, waving her hand in the air carelessly.

"This oughtta be good," the green-eyed woman murmured, and even Eunice, who was now searching for something in one of the many cupboards, snorted a laugh.

"Well, it's your anniversary," Kai said, "And between that and my daughter getting attacked by something that I'm not entirely sure wasn't that plant you gave me, neither of us really has time for fighting."

"Speaking of which, how is Gwendolyn? Did Jenny's spell work?" Gwen asked, now completely serious and concerned as she hopped onto a stool by the counter across from her cousin's wife.

"I…don't know," the other woman said, hiding her face as tears threatened to leak out of her perfectly made up eyes, "I haven't seen her since the boys took her back to her room last night."

"I'm sure she's okay," her in-law tried to soothe her, stretching a hand across the counter to stroke her arm comfortingly.

"Yeah," Kai agreed, lifting her face up and wiping her eyes. She took a moment to collect herself. Gwendolyn was her only daughter, and seeing her like that, so fragile and weak, it made her heart break. Nothing like that could ever happen again. Even if she had to tie Kenny to a chair to keep him from getting into trouble, she was not gonna watch that happen to her son. Suddenly, a strange thought struck her.

"Hey, don't you think it's strange how she knew exactly what to do?" the brown-eyed woman asked, frowning at the anodite, "When Devlin and Kenny brought Gwendolyn in, Jenny knew exactly what to do to get her back to normal – isn't that weird?"

Gwen's eyes narrowed in thought. Maybe the 16-year-old knew something more about the attack than the rest of them did. No. She instantly dismissed the thought. Jennifer was a smart girl, and she didn't keep secrets. But, then again, she did keep a lot of secrets about the future from them. But that was necessary. As she had said last night, Jenny's telling them something about the future could mess with the space time continuum.

"Yes," she finally admitted, knuckles white as she clutched the bottle of water, "But it's probably just something she learned back in her time. It's nothing to worry about."

"If you say so, Gwen," Kai said, rolling her eyes, clearly not believing her, "Eunice, what do you think?"

"Excuse me?" the blonde asked, looking up from her work at the stove, where she was now cooking sausages and gagging at the smell. The woman was a hard-core vegetarian, and resented living with a family that loved meat.

"About Gwen's daughter," said her employer, rolling her eyes again, "Remember what I told you happened last night?"

"Right," Eunice agreed begrudgingly, "When you were up at 3 a.m. going on about how three kids from the future came here, turned off all the power in the house to play a prank, and then your daughter had all the energy from her body sucked out and then returned by a 16-year-old Jenny." She didn't look like she believed any of it.

"Yes, that," the Native-American confirmed, nodding as if though the words didn't sound like the mad ravings of a complete lunatic.

Eunice looked from the dark haired woman to her husband's cousin, who shrugged helplessly.

"I thought she was joking," she announced.

"I know," the red haired woman admitted, "It sounds crazy to me and I was there."

"Great, now that we've established that our lives are ridiculously crazy and crazily ridiculous, can we get back to the real problem?" her in-law demanded.

The other two sighed and Eunice picked up a couple of plates.

"I'll take these to the dining room," she said and turned to leave.

"Living room," Kai corrected her, "We're having breakfast in the living room today."

"Alright…" the blonde said and disappeared.

"I'm firing her," the brown-eyed woman announced.

"Come on," Gwen said, "She's an excellent maid, and she doesn't flirt with Ben all the time. Where are you gonna find someone with both those qualities?"

"I hate it when you're right," the other woman grumbled and turned back to the counter.

The door opened again, and this time, it was Ben 10,000.

"No broken plates, everything's still where it's supposed to be…" he said suspiciously as his green eyes looked around the room for signs of a struggle, "Who are you two and what have you done to my wife and cousin?"

"Hilarious," Kai smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips as he passed her stool to get to the other fridge and get some orange juice.

"Good morning to you, too," his cousin said as he reappeared.

"Hey," he said, taking in her outfit, "You went for a run at 8 a.m.? Wow, Gwen, you know, sometimes I don't even think you're human."

"He's right," his wife agreed, "You exercise way too much."

"Yeah," the red head said sarcastically, "Because I want to be a married woman who has nothing better to do than sit around all day and order people around while her husband saves the Earth."

"That's the spirit!" Ben cried, amusement shining in his emerald eyes.

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Did you see Edwin this morning?" she asked, getting up off the stool.

"Yeah, I did," he confirmed, "I saw him going to the living room."

"Thanks, see you later," she said and ran out of the room, water bottle in hand.

A couple of hallways down, she spotted the slumped figure of the teenage version of her Godson. Only, he wasn't drained and shriveled like Gwendolyn had been.

"Kenny?" she asked, concerned as she shook his shoulder. When he didn't wake up, she began to get more anxious. "Kenny, wake up."

Just then, Eunice walked past them, on her way back from the living room. Honestly, it was amazing how fast she could get from one place to another.

"Eunice, go get some help,' the red head said anxiously, "I think Kenny was attacked by whatever got Gwendolyn last night."

A/N: There you go, guys. Hope you liked it! Again, sorry for the long wait. Please leave a review! =)


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews, guys! Once again, I'm sorry it took so long. I'm kinda busy traveling right now. Bad news is, next chapter could take even longer. I'm moving to Paris, and I don't know about the internet connection there…Oh, well, onto the story!

* * *

><p>Eunice had just left the kitchen and was slowly making her way to the living room. Balancing three plates full of hot food through a house that you needed a map for just to find the bathroom wasn't as easy as her employer apparently thought.<p>

Kai Tennyson really was unfair. She had been up that morning since three a.m., sitting in one of the chairs in the living room while Eunice made her coffee, insisting that the maid listen to her insane ramblings about how her husband didn't pay enough attention to her, and all because it was his cousin's anniversary the next day.

She was delusional, of course. No matter what she did, the Native American would always be the centre of the hero's universe. Silently, the blonde wondered what on Earth the man saw in her. The woman was insulting, careless, selfish,-

Suddenly, she rounded a corner and almost ran straight into a teen with shoulder-length jet-black hair that fell down freely, dressed in a black T-shirt over a grey long-sleeved one and a pair of jeans.

Even if he was older, it would have been impossible not to recognize him. His pale features and sure movements screamed 'Kevin Levin.'

"Devlin?" she cried, and almost dropped the plates, "Whoa!"

He quickly grabbed them from her and balanced them easily. She regained her balance.

"Yeah," he confirmed, frowning down at her. He was tall for a 16-year-old, and towered over the young woman by at least half a head. "Eunice?"

"Yes," the blonde said awkwardly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Seeing the teen version of a boy she was pretty much stuck babysitting these days and finding him a little more than just vaguely attractive was more a little than just vaguely embarrassing.

"You're working here?" the teen asked, eyes widening in surprise.

A frown crossed the blonde's face as she regarded the raven-haired teen, momentarily forgetting her embarrassment.

"I've been here before you," she reminded him, "Of course I'm working here."

"Oh, right," Devlin said, now avoiding her eyes, "What I mean is you're still working here?"

"As you can see," the green-eyed woman said, smiling now at the boy's discomfort. Or, at least that's why she thought he was avoiding her gaze. "Why? What happens in the future?"

"Oh, nothing," he said, a sudden smirk appearing on his lips at some inside joke, "Or, if I told you, Mommy dearest would probably kill me."

This earned him a laugh.

"What happened to you?" she asked, looking up and down his frame. He was fitter than he had been as a kid, that was for sure. But there was something else…

"What are you talking about?" the osmosian inquired, frowning at her in confusion.

"You look…different," the young woman stated, finally finding the right word to describe him.

"Well, duh," he said, and, even though she couldn't see it, Eunice was sure he had rolled his eyes, "I'm not a kid anymore."

"Something else," she mused, tapping a finger to her lips, "Your hair!"

Her cry was so sudden that it startled him, and the 16-year-old staggered back, nearly dropping the plates.

"Here, let me take those," the blonde said, reaching for them. The young teen managed to hold them just barely out of her reach.

"It's okay," he said, "I'll take 'em to the dining room."

"Living room," she corrected. A confused look crossed his face. "Mrs. Tennyson says you're having breakfast there today."

"Huh," the teen said, "Guess she doesn't want a repeat of dinner's events."

"What happened at dinner?" Eunice inquired, frowning. She hadn't been to the dining room yet, even though she'd heard there was some huge disaster there.

"Long story," the dark-haired teen stated as if though realizing he had said something he probably shouldn't have, "Which way's the living room?"

"That way," the blonde told him, pointing back over his shoulder.

"Thanks," her employers' adopted son said and turned to go.

"Devlin!" she called after him a moment later.

"Yeah?" the teen said, pausing in his tracks and turning back slightly.

"It looks good," the young woman assured him, a small smile on her face, "Your hair, I mean."

"Thanks," the osmosian repeated, flashing her a brief smile. Eunice wasn't sure, but for a moment she thought she saw obsidian glisten as the light from overhead caught his eyes. Probably just a trick of the lighting. Speaking of which, she'd have to call an electrician about that black-out they'd had last night. God knows what Kai would do if it happened again. Besides making out with her husband under the moon light and making all three of her kids, and Jenny, sick to their stomachs, of course.

After staring after the teen with a smile on her face for a few more seconds, the young woman turned to go back to the kitchen and get more things for breakfast. That is, if Gwendolyn and Kai hadn't already torn the place apart. She shuddered. Well, if all three kids turned out as well as Devlin would, then something had to happen to make sure that Earth's greatest hero's selfish wife wasn't an influence on the two boys and Gwendolyn. Jenny, on the other hand, was being raised by one of the nicest and most powerful women alive, even if her father was an over-protective, jealous psychopath. Eunice couldn't wait to see her and find out if Kai's rambling about her and Devlin being together was true. She hoped it was. They would make a cute couple as kids now, so they'd probably make an even nicer one later on in life. Somehow, after seeing Devlin just a moment ago, the maid didn't doubt that.

Finally, just a few feet away from the kitchen door, she saw Gwen. The anodite was crouching over something, or rather, someone, that was slumped up against the wall, and looking at him with slight fear in her eyes. The young woman was startled. It wasn't often you saw Gwen Goldstein afraid of anything.

"Eunice," she said anxiously without turning around, "Go get some help. I think Kenny was attacked by whatever got Gwendolyn last night."

The blonde opened her mouth to ask what on Earth was going on, but she had learned a long time ago that you learned more by listening, not talking. The maid gave a brisk nod and practically ran to the kitchen. She burst through the door and saw-

"Oh dear God!" she cried, covering her eyes and holding up a hand as if though signaling someone to stop a car. Ben had Kai laid down on the kitchen counter, her suit zipped halfway open, revealing a black bra. His arms were wrapped around his wife's waist as he leaned over her, capturing her mouth in a searing kiss. The kind of kiss that only this particular couple could share.

Both their heads snapped up at the sound of the young woman's voice.

"Eunice!" Kai cried, glaring at her as her husband jumped away involuntarily. She hopped down from the counter and zipped up her jumpsuit as if though she wasn't embarrassed beyond belief. "Don't you knock?"

"I'm sorry," the maid said, not bothering to remind her that this was the kitchen, and they shouldn't have been…doing that, in the first place.

"Don't worry about it," Ben assured her, fidgeting. It was rare to catch the hero off-guard, or embarrassed most of the time, but this was one of the few. Apparently it was a day for both Tennyson cousins to be caught in situations that they normally wouldn't be. "Is there something you needed?"

"Yes," she said, blushing and avoiding both their gazes, "Gwen found Kenny lying on the floor just outside, and she thought that he might have been-"

"My baby!" Kai cried and ran from the room, pushing past the green-eyed woman in the process, making her grab the edge of the counter to keep herself from falling.

"No," Ben breathed and started hurrying after his wife. He couldn't stand the thought that both his children might be hurt, and he knew that neither his cousin, nor the older version of Devlin would let the 16-year-old Jenny do that spell again. "Thanks for letting us know, Eunice, and could you please clean this up?"

He pointed at the mess the two adults had left behind on the floor. There were shattered plates, shards of glass, meshed fruits, her homemade muffins, a silver platter, and a large wooden bowl strewn all across the floor. With a huff of annoyance the young woman went to get a broom, not bothering to answer him.

* * *

><p>Out in the hallway, the adult Gwen was kneeling over the teenage version of her godson, worrying. She had no idea what to do, and she sure as hell wasn't gonna ask her daughter to repeat what she'd done yesterday. That spell had tired her out enough. Where was Eunice with help, anyway? The maid wasn't known for her incompetence. Did she really have to start a strike on her employers now? Not that the red head could blame her. She couldn't even imagine how the blonde put up with Kai and all her insanity.<p>

Apparently, though, the maid hadn't decided to go on strike just yet. A few second's later, the teen's parents burst out of the kitchen, wearing expressions to match her own. Kai's usually perfect long black hair was completely messed up and tangled, and Ben had lipstick smeared all over his mouth, making him somewhat resemble a clown. The anodite opened her mouth to tell them this, but then quickly shut it. The kids would have a laugh later.

"What happened?" the teen's father demanded, kneeling down next to his cousin and regarding his son.

"I found him like this when I was going to the living room to search for Edwin," Gwen explained, forgetting all her earlier thoughts and returning to the problem at hand.

"No!" Kai sobbed, "First Gwendolyn…now Kenny…oh!"

"It's gonna be okay, sweetheart," her husband soothed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Kenny doesn't look as bad as Gwen, so it probably wasn't the same thing that attacked Gwendolyn."

"Excuse you?" the green-eyed woman said, raising her eyebrows incredulously. His son might be dying, and he was insulting her!

"Sorry," the hero said, feigning regret in his voice, "I just couldn't think of a better analogy."

"You doofus!" the red head snapped back, "You really choose now to start an argument?"

"As much as this cheers me up," the Native American said, wiping her eyes and calming down quite a bit. Seeing one of the infamous arguments between the two cousins always helped cheer her up. Gwen was starting to wonder if he hadn't just started this one on purpose to calm down his witch of a wife. "You two need to stop fighting so that someone can figure out a way to help my son!"

"She's right," Ben said and turned back to the 16-year-old, "Isn't there some kind of spell that you can use?"

"No," the anodite stated, shaking her head sadly, the fight already forgotten.

"What about the one Jenny used yesterday?" Kai prompted.

"I don't know that one," the young woman answered, shaking her head again, "In fact I'm surprised she did."

"We can pore over the miracle that is your daughter some other time," her cousin said sharply, "Right now we need her help. What room's she staying in?"

"I don't know!" the girl's mother cried. She was getting tired of all these questions, and even more tired of not having a better answer than 'I don't know'. "Jenny was the one that took her to a guestroom last night."

"Eunice!" Kai yelled out, turning sharply to the kitchen doorway.

The blonde's head peaked out from a crack in the door, as well as the end of a broomstick. She was annoyed at being summoned this way, but what was she to expect from a spoiled woman like Kai Tennyson?

"You called?" she asked, her green eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes, I did," Kai answered, "Go to Jenny's room and ask her what room the other Jenny's staying in."

"Anything else, ma'am?" Eunice half-snapped at her employer.

"Yes," the brown-eyed woman repeated, "Get the kids and tell them breakfast is ready."

"Whatever you say, Mrs. Tennyson," the maid mumbled, "Room J7!" A wall opened up and swallowed her.

"You're way too tough on her," Gwen stated, glaring at her in-law.

"Don't tell me how to treat my help," the wife of Earth's greatest hero huffed, "I'm not the one whose daughter is dating the criminal's son."

With that the two launched into another fight.

"Oh, God," the green-eyed man groaned, completely unnoticed by the two women. His eyes fell on the still unconscious form of his son. "Kenny, please wake up soon."

* * *

><p>Several hallways down, Kevin was slowly making his way to the living room while cursing himself. How could he be so stupid as to forget his ID mask? Now they would find he wasn't Devlin, lock him up in the Null Void, and he'd never see his beloved red-haired anodite girlfriend again. The osmosian could only hope that no one would see him until he got it back. But first to get these plates to the living room. Eunice had gotten him out of camping once in their world, sorta, so he owed it to her to help her out.<p>

He slowly pushed open the double doors and backed inside. It was strange how the only doors that didn't need to be opened by a secret code were the ones to the living room, dining room, and probably the kitchen, too. Then again, that made these rooms the perfect hiding places for something important. Kevin knew from experience that the rooms that were usually the most secure were the ones that held the most valuable stuff, so anyone who wanted to steal anything would completely ignore the easy rooms, assuming they were a trap, and go straight for the ones that were behind lock and key. But the Tennysons probably weren't smart enough to figure that one out, so there had to be another reason.

"What are you doing here?" a male voice demanded from somewhere inside the room. The 17-year-old's eyes widened in horror and surprise. He knew the voice without having to turn around. Not that he dared to, anyway. He had to keep his back turned, his eyes shielded. That was the one thing that could give him away. Eunice had assured him of that. Otherwise, he could pass for Devlin just as easy as he could with an ID mask. He had the same black hair, same pale skin-

"I asked you a question," Edwin Goldstein growled.

"I heard you," the raven-haired teen said, rolling his eyes and wondering if he could still pull of arrogance like this.

"Well?" the man huffed, glaring at the teen's back.

"Well what?" the boy smirked, still not turning around. He would have loved to see the expression on his girlfriend's parallel husband's face, but it wasn't all that hard to imagine from the tone of his voice.

"What are you doing here?" the raven-haired adult snapped, and shut the book he had apparently been reading.

"Eunice asked me to bring these here," Kevin announced and turned around, keeping his eyes firmly planted on the floor. He moved his arms slightly to indicate the plates. "Problem?"

"With you?" Edwin asked, feigning innocence that quickly turned into a growl when he answered his own question. Kevin silently wondered if the man wasn't part wolf. "Yes."

"Alright," the osmosian said with a shrug, setting the plates down on the coffee table and turning back to the door, "Now I gotta get back to your daughter. See ya around, pops."

"I don't want you seeing my daughter anymore," the man said in a steady voice, all anger gone. He was the authority figure now.

"Right," the obsidian-eyed teen drawled, rolling his eyes, his back still turned, "And I should care because…?"

"Because I am her father," he said, taking a deep breath and struggling to not start yelling at the teen again.

"Again," the 17-year-old said, turning around and leaning against the doorframe casually, careful of the lights, "Not seeing what this has to do with me and Gwe– me and Jen."

Edwin's eyes narrowed at the young boy's slip, but he kept quiet. There were more pressing issues at hand than the raven-haired teen's confusing the name of his daughter with his wife's.

"Devlin, look," the man said, waving his statement away, his tone turning exasperated, "Ben's Gwen's cousin, and I don't want to mess whatever fragile relationship those two have, but I also don't want my little girl getting hurt. So I think it's best for all of us if you stop seeing her."

Kevin's dark eyes seemed to grow darker, and crackled like obsidian flames. He stood upright, hands clenched into fists at his sides. The voice he was using reminded the osmosian of the one cops had used on him when he had been a kid. Suddenly, he was eleven years old and back in New York, looking at the face of a man who was telling him to go home to a mother and step-father who didn't want him. Back then, the man had been right. Kevin should have gone back to Bellwood. He should have gone to school, met Ben, Gwen, and Max and helped them fight aliens. He should have gone to a Plumber's Academy and become a Plumber through proper training, not by default. But now, the man was wrong. He wasn't that stubborn little boy anymore who didn't know what he wanted in life. He knew what he wanted, or, more specifically, who he wanted.

"Let's get something straight here, old man," the teen seethed, struggling not to strangle the man, "That girl you're telling me to dump? She means more to me than anything else in the world, and I'd be a bigger idiot than Tennyson if I listened to you right now. And I know she cares about me, too. When no one else believed in me, even I didn't believe in me, she did. When I went insane, she was there to bring me back to the real world, back to her. So I'll go when she wants me to go. Face it, Ed, she's not little, and she's not yours. She can take care of herself, and if she can't, I'll be there to take care of her."

With that the ex-con turned on his heel, exiting the room, leaving an open-mouthed, preppy, rich kid standing there, sputtering.

* * *

><p>A few more hallways away, Jenny had just gotten out of bed in the room where her Aunt and Uncle had made her stay in ever since she was two years old. All the guestrooms looked the same, with white walls, large, white, king-sized beds, walk-in closets, large lamps hanging from the ceiling, and metal bedside tables. One wall, the one that wasn't merely a doorway to the closet, didn't hold the door to the hallway, and the bed wasn't resting against, could be used as a window. There was a remote in one of the drawers that you could use to flip through several scenes, such as a sunset over the horizon, sunrise in a meadow, or a forest. Jenny usually left the wall blank. She got enough of nature where she lived.<p>

Her room had some extra pieces of furniture, though. A large wooden desk, a vanity table, and two chairs. The little red head was sitting there now, dressed in her usual pale blue sweater over a button down shirt, the collar, sleeves, and hem of which were just barely peeking out, and a pair of dark blue jeans, brushing her hair. She had everything she'd need for the party later today in her closet: a dark blue dress, a pair of black shoes, and some accessories that she and her mother had picked out about a week ago at the mall.

Today was also the day she would teach her obnoxious cousin Kenny how to dance whether he liked it or not. It was, after all, in his best interests. If he made a fool of himself, no one would ever be able to forget it, not to mention that his father was one of the most important people on the planet. And as such, he had to be respected. And who would respect a man whose son ruined his cousin's anniversary party?

The young anodite saw her petite face scrunch up into a frown in the mirror in front of her. She slowly realized that it might not even matter whether everyone at the party had two left legs. The real focus would undoubtedly be Devlin. Most of the people there would know that Kevin Levin had escaped again and that he was now safely back in the Null Void, but they wouldn't know that Ben 10,000 had adopted his son. That was going to be a real shocker.

Suddenly, the ceiling of her room slid away, revealing a hidden passageway that the blue-eyed girl vaguely remembered Kenny using when they were younger to scare her out of bed in the mornings. Only, this time, it wasn't Kenny that toppled down onto her bed. It was Eunice. She was wearing a light blue dress that reached down to her knees and a white apron as her uniform. Jenny never could understand why Aunt Kai was so horrible to her, or why she even put up with it.

"Good morning, Eunice," the 10-year-old said brightly, "Any reason you just decided to drop in?"

"Good morning, honey," the maid said, sitting up and smoothing her hair and clothes. Eunice was very fond of all three of the younger kids, and they liked her, too. Gwendolyn, on the other hand, had inherited her mother's attitude towards the help. She hardly ever even said two words to the woman, and whenever she'd see her with one of the others, she'd make a face. It was very frustrating. "Yes, there is. Your aunt wants to know what room your future version is in."

"What's wrong?" the girl asked, her brows furrowing together in worry. She didn't even think to ask how the maid knew what was going on. The young anodite had long since accepted that the people that you never paid attention to, most likely than not, knew more than you did.

"It's her cousin, the 16-year-old Kenny," the blonde explained, "Something happened to him last night. Your mother found him lying just outside the kitchen door."

"Oh," the red head said quietly, her eyes widening in surprise as she turned to stare at the floor in confusion. She was pretty sure that the reason the teenage version of her parallel uncle disguised as her cousin was lying outside of the kitchen door was that he had realized that the code she had given him didn't work on that specific room, and he had fallen asleep on the floor.

"Are you sure he wasn't just sleeping?" the 10-year-old asked in a worried voice, finally meeting the young woman's eyes.

"Maybe," she said doubtfully, "But just in case, maybe we should have the older you check up on him."

"Why can't Mom do it?" Jenny suggested. She didn't really want to wake up the parallel version of her mother and an ex-con just for a check up. And, after all, if she could do that spell on Gwendolyn as a teenager in that universe, surely she must know what to do now as an adult in this one! Just then, a horrible thought crossed the girl's mind. "Is something wrong with her? Is she okay? Did that energy-sucking vampire get her, too?"

"Sweetheart, relax!" the maid exclaimed and hurried over to crouch in front of the little girl and calm her down, "Gwen's fine! It's just that you seem to know about this kind of stuff better than her, so she thinks it might be a good idea."

"Oh, alright," the red head agreed, relaxing finally and getting up out of her chair, "I'll take you to her and Devlin's room."

"Thank you – Wait!" the blonde cried, standing and holding up her hand to signal the 10-year-old to stop on her way to the door. The anodite froze like a deer caught in the headlights and slowly turned around to the half-furious, half-curious face of her aunt's employee. "What do you mean, her and Devlin's room?"

"I sort of put them in the same room last night…" the blue-eyed girl said slowly, fidgeting with her hands and suddenly finding the blank tile floors very interesting.

"And…?" Eunice prompted, hands on her hips as she stared the little girl down.

"And I'm sorry?" she squeaked, the statement coming out as more of a question.

"You should be!" the blonde cried, "They're only sixteen, and…ugh! Do you know what your parents would do if they found out?"

"Yes," Jenny stated, calming down. She had prepared speeches last night just in case anyone who wouldn't immediately go babbling about it to her parents accidentally found out the truth. Eunice definitely counted as one of those people. "But I know you won't tell them."

"How do you figure?" the young woman asked, growing suspicious as she crossed her arms on her chest. It was no secret that Gwen Tennyson was crafty, or that her daughter had inherited that particular quality from her, either. The two females could be very stubborn when they wanted to, and if the straight approach didn't work, they could always find a way to get what they wanted. This was one of those times.

"Because you love me and you like Devlin," the girl said with a shrug, innocently widening her eyes and batting her eyelashes, "And I know that you'd never do anything to get us in trouble, would you, Eunice?"

"If you're doing something stupid, then, yes, honey, I would," the maid replied.

"Eunice, have you even seen those two together?" the red head asked, now slightly exasperated. If Eunice insisted on keeping this up, she knew she'd accidentally tell her the truth.

"No, I haven't," the maid stated, "And I would be more than happy to. Let's go."

A small smile spread across the young anodite's face as she walked past her and out the door. The curiosity of others had been an asset to her when dealing with them more often than not.

The two walked over to the room Jenny had put Gwen and Kevin in last night, and the younger red head punched in the code. When the door opened, they saw that the lights were still out, and a small shape curled up under the white blanket. This in itself was strange. Gwen Tennyson was a morning person. Something wasn't right here.

The small shape groaned and buried its head under the covers, shying away from the light.

"Good morning," the 10-year-old said in a sing-song voice.

"Ugh," Gwen groaned, and sat up slowly, clutching the blanket to her chest. She was dressed in a pair of white pajamas, which went nicely along with the theme of the room, and rubbed sleep out of her eyes. Unlike Kevin, she hadn't taken off her ID mask, and for that now both her and her parallel daughter were grateful. "What time is it?"

"It's 10 a.m., sweetheart," Eunice's voice drifted over to the young anodite, "Time to get up."

"Ten?" the 16-year-old gasped, jumping out of bed, "I've got a test in French today, and – wait. Where am I?" She stopped in front of them, and slowly memories from yesterday came floating back to her. "Jenny? Eunice?"

"Yep," the 10-year-old confirmed lightly, not wanting to draw attention to her while Eunice was there. It was all too obvious that the red head was disoriented. "Now, there's something wrong with your cousin, Kenny. Mom wants you to check it out."

"Kenny…" the green-eyed teen's voice drifted off. The first face that her mind put the name to was that of her older brother, with red hair and green eyes, but the next was a 16-year-old Ben with dark skin and lighter brown hair… "What happened?" She was already half-way to the door, not even bothering to get dressed.

"Your mother found him outside the kitchen," the maid explained, "She thinks he might have been attacked by whatever that thing that attacked Gwendolyn last night."

"Whoever," the teen corrected her, starting to run down the hallway, with the other two at her heels.

"You know who it was?" the blonde asked in surprise.

"Yes," Gwen told her, "But it's nothing that can't be handled after the party. There's gonna be enough catastrophes there as it is."

"What was that?" Eunice asked. The young girl had said the last part under her breath, and she wanted to make sure she'd heard her right, as well as find out the meaning behind her words.

"She means that Kenny can't dance," Jenny explained quickly, "If he can't dance, then the whole thing is gonna be a disaster!"

"Yes, that's right," the parallel version of the girl's mother hastened to agree, understanding that she'd made a mistake.

"Really?" the maid asked, raising her eyebrows incredulously, half-amused.

"Yes," both girls said at once.

"Well, then," the young woman said, stopping in her tracks, a slightly mischievous smile on her face. The other two stopped in front of her and turned back to regard the woman curiously. "Jenny, go get your cousin and take him to the ballroom. We can't have you parents' party ruined now, can we?"

"No, ma'am," the 10-year-old agreed brightly and turned her face to the ceiling, "Room K1!"

The wall immediately swallowed her up.

"What just happened?" the older red head asked, turning to frown at the parallel version of the Unitrix core.

"I got back at your cousin for putting a giant octopus in the supply closet," Eunice explained, that mischievous glint still shining in her eyes, "Just don't tell anyone."

The anodite laughed. Apparently this house was full of people pulling pranks on each other every day.

"Your secret's safe with me," she promised. Just then they rounded a corner and came across the two arguing women, an adult Ben hitting his head against the wall, and Kevin standing a few feet away, an amused smirk plastered onto his face as he watched the fight. The dark teen's girlfriend rolled her eyes. This was prime time entertainment for the young osmosian.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked, loud enough for everyone to hear and turn their gazes to her, but the 16-year-old was keeping her eyes firmly planted on her boyfriend, her expression mirroring his, hands on her hips.

"Now I am," he stated, his obsidian eyes running up and down her pale frame. The girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest. "Love the new outfit."

"Ha, ha," the girl said, rolling her eyes again and walked over to kneel in front of her cousin. She had known as soon as she saw him that it wasn't Darkstar. And she knew that Kevin knew that as well. It was the reason he hadn't been the one to come running to her room. But, just to satisfy the adults, the anodite placed her hand on the hero's chest, and tried to read him. She could immediately tell that something was wrong, but her ex wasn't the problem. It was something else…

The girl took her hand away and was immediately engulfed by a wave of dizziness. Kevin's strong arms were around her in moments and she relaxed into his arms.

"You okay?" the obsidian-eyed teen asked, his warm breath tickling her ear.

"I'm fine," she promised, a frown on her face.

"What's wrong with him?" Kai asked, kneeling down next to the two teens. She didn't even care that her goddaughter had nearly passed out. All that mattered was her son.

"Hey, lady," the raven-haired teen snapped, "She almost passed out. Give the girl some room."

The Native American's eyes widened and she stood up, taking a step back.

"Devlin," Ben 10,000's strong, slightly threatening voice growled, "Don't speak to your mother that way."

The 17-year-old's eyes widened and his mouth opened to spit out a retort. His mother? Obviously he hadn't met Kevin's real mother. She was pretty much the opposite of Kai.

Suddenly, the osmosian felt a small hand wrap around his large one and squeeze gently. Gwen. The teen closed his mouth and kept quiet. The girl had such an impact on him.

"He's right," the older anodite's worried voice cut the tension in the air simply. The two teens looked up to see the woman's worried emerald gaze on the teenage version of her daughter. "Jenny, sweetie, I'm starting to worry. You've never gotten that weak after using a spell before."

"I'm fine," she insisted, shaking her head.

"No, you're not," the raven-haired teen insisted and picked her up bridal style for the second time in 24 hours, "I'm taking you back to your room. Get dressed and get down to the living room for breakfast." He got up and started walking away from everyone else.

"Hang on a second, Devlin," the brunette hero stopped him in his tracks, "How did you know breakfast's in the living room?"

"Eunice told me when I helped her carry breakfast over there," the 17-year-old said with a shrug.

"And did you see Edwin there?" the adult Gwen asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Yeah," the dark teen confirmed.

"Oh no," the red head in his arms groaned. Her boyfriend turned his obsidian gaze back on her. "Please tell me you didn't kill him."

"Alright, I didn't kill him," Kevin complied.

"Now tell me the truth," the pajama-clad girl prompted, her green eyes wide.

"I didn't kill him," the teen repeated, just barely able to keep the smirk off his face.

"Thank God," the green-eyed girl breathed a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed.

"Can we go now?" the raven haired teen asked, already starting to leave the small party in the hallway.

"Yes," the girl confirmed, smiling brightly up into his obsidian eyes. Wait. Obsidian? "And I think you left something back at your room, too."

"Oh, right," the osmosian agreed, "My hairband."

She shook her head, not bothering to reply.

The adults watched the two teens disappear down the hallway, before ganging up on Eunice.

"How could you do that?"

"Really, Eunice, sending a boy to do your job? So unprofessional."

"Don't you know those two hate each other?"

"What were you thinking?"

The maid sighed and turned around, knowing her employers would be busy for a while, and wouldn't even realize she was gone.

"Ah!" someone shouted, and all three adults turned back to the forgotten brunette teen, who was scrambling to get up, eyes wide as he stared up at them.

* * *

><p>AN: There you go! That's chapter 10. Hope you liked it! This was the longest chapter for this story yet! R&R!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you guys so much for all the reviews! It makes me so happy to know how much you like this story! You guys are the best!

Special thanks to Codecrash for all your great ideas, inspiration, advice, everything. You are truly amazing, and I can't wait to see what you come up with in your stories! You're right, by the way, insanity helps A LOT. =)

* * *

><p>Kenny was sleeping soundly in his bed, snoring loudly. He was having a very good dream about being Earth's greatest hero sometime in the near future, and wasn't planning on waking up any time soon.<p>

In the dream, Hex, Charmcaster, and her daughter, Allura, were attacking the town. His father had trusted Kenny to take care of the problem, and now the young boy was making the most of it.

Just as he, having turned into Four Arms, dodged another blast of magic from the older sorceress, the young hero landed on a building next to Devlin, who was battling Allura. The girl looked like a smaller version of her mother, who looked just like the Charmcaster in the parallel universe, but was ten times as vicious. The raven-haired boy, now in his mutated form, had her in a chokehold, and she was clawing at his arms, doing quite a bit of damage.

"I've got her," Devlin spat out, trying not to pay too much attention to the fact that thin tricklets of blood were flowing from the scratches her claws had made, "Take care of Charmcaster and Hex!"

Over the alien's shoulder, the mutated boy could see that Jenny was fighting both of them, and he obviously didn't like it.

"Hang on a second," Kenny muttered. There was something different about Allura this time. She had added another accessory to her outfit: a witch's hat. The boy lifted it off, sensing that something was wrong, and the girl went limp in his friend's arms.

"Ugh," she groaned.

Devlin immediately let her go and set off to help Jenny. Four Arms caught the witch in two arms, and she struggled to make sense of what was going on.

"Kenny?" she whispered, "What happened?"

Suddenly, the 10-year-old was hit in the face by a jet of cold water, effectively waking him up and ending his wonderful dream.

"Aah!" he screamed, scrambling to get up and as far away from the freezing cold water as possible. He fell out of his bed, entangled in a heap of blankets and soaking wet. The young boy heard laughter from behind him and fought to get rid of the blanket. A pair of small arms lifted it off him easily and tossed it away somewhere in the corner. "What was that for?"

"Good morning, doofus," Jenny greeted him brightly, ignoring his question, "Ready for your dance lesson?"

"Dance?" the younger bearer of the Omnitrix asked, eyes widening. He had been momentarily afraid that his cousin had eavesdropped on his dream, but all fears diminished when he heard that one word.

"Yep," the girl confirmed, nodding furiously, "Get dressed and meet me in the living room in 10 minutes."

"Wait!" her cousin cried, just as she started heading for the door. The red haired girl stopped in her tracks immediately and turned back slowly. "I am not taking dance lessons. Especially not from you."

This earned him one annoyed look an eye-roll.

"You'll look stupid out there if you don't dance," she whined, coming back to the bed and putting her hands on her hips in a very good imitation of her mother, "_Everybody's_ gonna dance. Probably even the parallel versions of Kevin, Mom, and your dad! Why won't you let me teach you?"

"Because guys don't dance," Kenny stated, clambering up to his feet and looking down at his cousin, "We fight aliens, play video games, do cool stuff. And dancing definitely doesn't fall under that category."

"Oh, really?" Jenny asked, now crossing her arms on her chest and raising an incredulous eyebrow, "Then how come your dad, my dad, great grandpa Max, Devlin, the parallel version of your dad, and even Kevin Levin all know how to dance?"

"Um because… well they, um…it's not really…" Kenny found that he couldn't find a reasonable explanation, and he knew his devious little cousin could see that.

"Uh huh," she said, a knowing smirk on her face as she turned back to exit the room and called carelessly over her shoulder: "Ten minutes!"

Kenny groaned and fell back on his bed. He would have given anything to be able to crawl back into bed at that very moment, but he knew full well that Jenny would be having none of that. His beloved red haired cousin could be very stubborn when she wanted to be, and apparently, this was one of those times.

He hadn't noticed that the door hadn't closed behind the girl yet. Her sing-song voice calling out his name noted him to that fact, and the younger bearer of the Omnitrix lifted his head, only to find the blue-eyed girl's head just barely peeking out of the doorway.

"About your dream," she said, with a wide smile on your face, "It's never gonna happen with you and Allura."

The young anodite ducked out of the room as Kenny's shoe came flying at her head.

* * *

><p>Several hallways away, Devlin was sitting at the desk in his room, putting his hair up in his usual ponytail, getting ready for the day. He liked the fact that he now had a bed to sleep in, and could wake up without worrying about monsters, gangsters, or any of the other stuff he had had to deal with when living with his father. True, there was the occasional run-in with the local alien criminals or really dangerous ones like Dr. Animo or his dad, but the 10-year-old couldn't say that he minded. It was almost fun dealing with the law when you were on the right side of it. The boy cringed when he thought of what his father might do if he ever heard his own son say that out loud.<p>

Dealing with Mrs. Tennyson, though…that was something he could live without. He made a mental note to ask Dad – he meant Kevin – whether or not the greatest hero in the universe was dating Kai in his universe. And if he was, if she was as bad there as she was here. The woman could be nice and kind when she wanted to, but, over the few times Devlin and Kenny had 'accidentally' overheard the conversations Ben 10,000 had with his cousin, Gwen, it had been proved otherwise, too. And, call him crazy, but sometimes the boy got the impression that she only cared about her own children and their dad's fame.

Dad. For some reason, thinking of his new family always somehow led back to the idiot who had used him to escape the Null Void. Kevin 11,000 was a murderer, but did that mean that there was absolutely no good inside him? That didn't seem likely, even though previous experiences had deemed it otherwise. There had been times when Kevin had been something of a good father. Like, for instance, he had helped Devlin master his powers when they were just starting to develop.

Devlin startled. He hadn't thought about that, since it had been such a long time ago, but now old memories were beginning to resurface. Kevin Levin might have only shown up yesterday, but he seemed like a pretty cool guy. Maybe that's why he was actually remembering something good about his childhood.

Devlin sighed. How different would everything have turned out if his father had actually gained control of his powers and stopped absorbing energy? Would everything have happened just as it did in that universe? Would he have dated and eventually married Gwen Tennyson, become Ben Tennyson's best friend, and started working for the Plumbers? Would Devlin and Jenny be brother and sister, have a sort of normal life with both parents working for the intergalactic police? Jenny's life would certainly be better. The boy would have bet a month's allowance on the fact that Kevin would never make Gwen do anything she didn't want to, such as moving to the country. He cared about her enough to not force her to do anything, but when it was necessary, to put his foot down.

Just then, as if though thinking about the girl had somehow triggered something, the ceiling opened, and dropped Jenny Goldstein onto the boy's bed.

"Oof!" she cried as she hit the mattress.

Devlin smirked, putting all his thoughts of family away, and directed all his attention to the red headed girl entangled in a heap of blankets on his bed.

"You know, some people use doors now," he informed her, and stood up from his place at his desk.

"Yeah, thanks," the anodite said, sitting up and tossing the blanket to the foot of his bed.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked gruffly.

The girl glared at him.

"Good morning to you, too," she said, her eyes narrowed. Honestly, people could be so rude sometimes.

"Sorry," he apologized, a small smile on his face, "Force of habit. But really, what are you doing here? Kai usually sends Eunice when breakfast is ready."

"I'm not some sort of servant," the girl scoffed, crossing her arms on her chest indignantly, "It's not my job to tell you when breakfast is or is not ready."

"Right, sorry," the boy muttered and then sighed. He usually didn't apologize to anyone, save for his new family, and yet he had apologized to this little red head twice in one minute.

Jenny noticed the change in him. She was good at reading people, and could tell that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" she asked, standing up and walking slowly over to where the blue-eyed boy was sitting slowly and cautiously, as if though approaching a wounded animal.

"Nothing's wrong," Devlin stated, looking at her in confusion. Why on earth would anything be wrong? Just because he had lived his whole life believing his father was locked up for some unjust reason, and now found out that he really was an evil psychopath, only to find out a week later that there was a parallel version of him that was good and decent and even had a good life something just had to be wrong? Get out of town.

She sat down on another chair by his desk. The 10-year-old's room looked exactly like hers, only without the vanity table, the blanket on his bed was midnight blue, and the walls were a more metallic shade than the snowy white Jenny was accustomed to.

"It's Kevin, isn't it?" the anodite guessed gently, her eyes full of compassion.

"Yeah," the boy admitted.

"Are you still hung up on what he said yesterday?" she guessed again. This one wasn't as close as her last guess had been, but Devlin was curious as to what she meant. After all, he had said a lot of things.

"He says a lot of things," he stated with a resolute shrug, "Which one did you mean?"

"What he said about you losing your humanity," Jenny clarified.

The boy's eyes widened. How could he have been sitting here, brooding over everything in his life, when the threat of his humanity being taken away loomed over him? The girl's words were like a slap in the face, and he hadn't even been thinking about that!

"I…wasn't even thinking about that," he muttered, surprised at how gruff his voice sounded.

"Oh," the red head said, jerking up in her seat quickly, like an electric current had just passed through her, "Well, good, then. Don't. I mean, just because it happened to him doesn't mean it's gonna happen to you, and besides, what does he know? He was trapped in the Null Void for years, then came out and started going out with his worst enemy's cousin and-"

"Jenny?" Devlin interrupted her babbling, a slightly amused smile on his face.

"Yeah?" the girl said, halting her little pep speech.

"Shut up," he chuckled. The girl opened hr mouth to retort, but then closed it, narrowed her ice blue eyes and turned away, arms and legs crossed, nose turned up in the air.

"Fine," she grumbled, making the boy laugh even more.

"So, what were you doing here?" he asked when his laughing fit was over.

No answer.

"Jenny?" he called, frowning. Had he really upset her that much?

"You said to shut up," she answered in a quiet, insulted voice.

"Sorry," he apologized for the third time in ten minutes, "You can un-shut up now."

"Thank you," the blue-eyed girl said, a wide smile on her face as she turned back to him, "I'm teaching Kenny how to dance. Thought you might like to come and see."

"Are you kidding?" the 10-year-old cried, shooting up out of his seat and starting to head for the door, all thoughts of their earlier conversation gone, "Miss out on an opportunity to watch my brother make a fool of himself and videotape the whole thing to be used as blackmail? Of course I want to come."

She remained seated and gave him a pointed look.

"I mean watching you teach something cultural to my sort of brother?" he edited weakly, "Yay."

A wide smile broke out on the girl's face. She gave a firm nod and walked over to him, stopping to scrutinize the boy's clothing. The smile was immediately replaced by a frown.

"What?" he asked, not liking the way her blue eyes ran up and down his thin frame. Was there something wrong? Had he forgotten to put on pants? No, the 10-year-old distinctly remembered putting on pants a few minutes ago. What then?

One of the anodite's small, thin hands quickly ran up to his hair and pulled out the rubber band there.

"Hey!" the boy cried as all his black hair spilled around his face, and he shook it out of his eyes.

"Much better," the girl stated and smiled brightly again, turning to head out the door.

Devlin rolled his eyes. Girls. Who knew what went on in their mind?

* * *

><p>By the kitchen door, the adults were still gathered around the teenage Kenny, trying to get him to calm down and stop screaming his head off.<p>

"Kenny, Kenny, calm down," Ben 10,000 coasted him gently, putting his large hand on the boy's shoulder to try and calm him, "It's us, your parents! And my cousin Gwen, but she doesn't really matter."

"Shut up, you doofus," the red haired woman snapped at her cousin, hitting him on the back of the head.

"Both of you quit it!" Kai cried, pushing past the two other adults and crowding her teenage son's space, "Oh, baby, what happened? Did something hurt you? Oh, it doesn't matter. You're safe now!" She crushed the boy's head to her chest, causing him to squirm in her steel-hard grasp. The boy's father pulled his hand away just in time.

"Kai, that's enough!" he exclaimed, trying to get her to let the teen go, "You're suffocating him!"

Finally, the woman let go of the 16-year-old. He sat back, taking deep breaths, one hand on his heart.

"Are you okay, kiddo?" Gwen asked gently.

"Yeah," he gasped. It took him a moment to meet the anodite's eyes. "But what happened yesterday?"

"You, your cousin, and Devlin traveled back in time because, apparently, Edwin did something to upset him," Earth's greatest hero informed the boy, "Now, do you remember what attacked you?"

"Nothing attacked me," the brunette boy answered, a confused look crossing his features. Slowly memories of yesterday came flooding back. The two ten year olds accidentally bringing them back in time, meeting the parallel version of his adult self along with Gwen and their spouses, and Jenny and Gwendolyn, getting chased around the huge maze-like house by Kevin at least five times, the blackout, the rained-out dinner, and his 13-year-old daughter getting attacked by Darkstar. How on Earth did he get here, anyway? "Jenny gave me some false room-code."

"So, why didn't you just use the code to another room?" Gwen asked suspiciously, "One you did know."

"Because…in our time," the 16-year-old said slowly, trying to come up with a good excuse, "all the codes are different and none of them would work here."

"But no one around here ever changes the codes," the adult Ben said with a frown.

"Well, um, you didn't have a choice because Animo broke in here and, um, he…" the brunette teen trailed off, not knowing what to say next. He had to give Kevin some credit. Lying was hard!

"What did he do, sweetie?" Kai prompted, her beautiful brown eyes looking into his intensely. Her eyes, they reminded him so much of a doe's…and does were animals…and Animo's sole mission in life had something to do with animals…and most of the time he was chasing Ben to get a DNA sample…

The bearer of the Ultimaterix took a deep breath to steady himself, and looked into his parallel wife's eyes steadily.

"Because he had a DNA sample hidden somewhere here from when he attacked this place," he explained calmly, "and also, the key code to the room, so in order to make sure he never found the sample, we had to change the codes."

"What sample was it?" the red head asked, her eyes now hard and calculating.

"It was from one of my aliens," the brunette teen told her, holding out his watch.

"Kenny, how many times have I told you," Ben 10,000 snapped, helping up his son while the two women stepped back and straightened up, "you have to be careful with the Omnitrix! There are lots of criminals out there who want to steal it, and being so reckless could get you hurt!"

"You're right," the parallel version of him agreed with a sigh, "I'm sorry, Dad."

There was a moment of silent surprise as the three adults gapped at him. Kenny never admitted his father was right, since, well, he almost never was. But this time was different. It wasn't Kenny they were dealing with. This was Ben Tennyson, a guy who hung out with an ex-con, and who had been lying to his parents about his watch for an extremely long time. He knew how to handle his folks, much less himself.

The boy wanted to smirk at how ridiculous the adults looked, but didn't dare. He wanted to see this thing to the end, and smirking would just ruin everything.

"Well- well, you should be sorry," the adult Ben stated, "When did this little run-in with Animo happen?"

"Well, I'm not allowed to tell you anything about the future," the green-eyed teen said, pulling up a sad smile, "Sorry, but those are the rules."

"What rules?" the man cried, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation, "Devlin built a time-machine so you could go back in time because Gwen's husband made him mad! There are no rules when it comes to stuff like that!"

"Actually, there are," the 16-year-old intervened, silently thanking God that Kevin wasn't there. His friend never would have let him live this down. "If I tell you anything about the future, then it could mess with the space-time continuum. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Ben 10,000 started sputtering and his wife wrapped both her arms around his and started tugging him away from the scene.

"Come on, honey," she said gently, as they both started walking in the direction of their room, "We need to get to breakfast. Hope you feel better, sweetheart!" The last part she called over her shoulder to the teenage version of her son.

"But I feel-" he started to call after her, but was interrupted by Gwen putting a hand on his shoulder. She started leading him in the other direction, to the living room.

"Don't bother," the anodite advised, "We should get to breakfast, too. Your brother was already there and had a conversation with my husband." Her hand tightened around the boy's shoulder as she practically growled the last words.

"Kev- I mean, Devlin and Edwin?" Ben cried, looking up at the adult, parallel version of his beloved cousin, "Is he okay?"

"Devlin said he's fine," the woman assured both him and herself, "Or, alive at least."

"No, not Uncle Ed," the 16-year-old stated, shaking his head, "Devlin. He cares about Jenny a lot and I know it's hard for him that her parents hate him. He might act like a jerk, but in the end he wants the same thing as you two: to keep someone he cares about safe. Isn't that what the Plumbers were about? Protecting the universe and the people we care about?"

A wide smile spread across the red head's face and she loosened her grip.

"You know, your dad doesn't give you enough credit," she said, "You're pretty smart to be the son of the world's biggest doofus."

"Thanks," the teen said, slightly unnerved at hearing his old nickname, "But maybe you should stop making fun of my dad. I mean, Jenny and I stopped doing that when we were twelve."

By now they had reached the living room. The anodite stopped in her tracks and looked at the boy in shock for a few seconds. Was he actually lecturing her on treating her family members with respect? When her parents had told her to stop making fun of Ben, the green-eyed young woman hadn't listened, and eventually they had decided to leave her alone. But now, a 16-year-old, who was almost exactly like her moronic cousin, had told her it should stop. Maybe it was time she listened to what people had been telling her for years…

"Um, should we go in or what?" the boy asked, bringing the young woman out of her thoughts.

"Yes, of course," the red head agreed, and pushed the door open to reveal her husband and Eunice setting the table, while he sat on the couch, a dazed and confused look on his face.

"Edwin?" the man's wife said, hurrying over to sit beside him, "What's the matter?"

The raven-haired man blinked his ice-blue eyes once and turned his attention to the anodite.

"Nothing," he assured her, "Everything's perfect."

* * *

><p>Back in their room, Gwen and Kevin were getting ready for breakfast. Gwen had already brushed out her hair and gotten dressed in her usual black mini skirt and red sweater, while Kevin searched for his ID mask. He finally found it under the bed.<p>

"There it is!" he cried and reached under the bed to pull out the piece of alien tech. When he finally got it, he waved the mask up over his head, still on his knees, showing it to the red head looming over him, her arms crossed on her chest. "Got it!"

"That's nice," the anodite said distractedly, tapping one foot, "So, can we go now? I'd like to see how much damage you caused to my husband."

The osmosian stood up and shuddered.

"If you ever say those words again, I swear I will punch the living daylights out of whoever the hell you're talking about," he threatened and clenched his fists, nearly breaking the energy mask.

The girl rolled her eyes and stepped forward so that she was directly in front of her boyfriend. With tentative hands, she slowly pried open the 17-year-old's fist and removed the mask, holding it gingerly in both hands.

"I'm sure you will," she said gently, and held the alien tech up for him to put on, "Now put this on before Ben 10,000 decides to check the security cameras."

The raven-haired teen rolled his eyes and put the mask on, this time making sure that the only thing different was his eye-colour. He didn't want anyone getting suspicious.

"Speaking of security cameras, what are we gonna do about our little guest?" he asked. His girlfriend sighed.

"We'll deal with Michael after the party," she stated, looking down at the floor. She didn't want Kevin to know how worried she really was about this. How had Michael found them, anyway? Why was he here? Why had he taken energy from Gwendolyn, when the real prize was any one of the red heads? No, scratch that one. The anodite knew the answer to that. Michael liked to play with his food. (She shuddered at the word.) It was the reason why he had used the girls from his high school. But she knew what he was really after: her. And the girl didn't want her beloved boyfriend to know just how much it scared her that she could be dragging her little daughter into this, too.

Unfortunately for her, the said boyfriend was very observant. He knew there was something wrong. With a sigh, the osmosian wrapped his arms around her, enveloping the red head in a warm embrace. He knew the matter was serious when she hesitated to wrap her slender, pale arms around him, too, and pulled back to ask her about it.

"Gwen, what is it?" he asked, frowning down at her, "You know we can handle that low-life energy-sucking vampire."

"Yeah, I know," the green-eyed girl agreed, "It's just with the kids and everything-"

"Hey, don't worry about them either," Kevin told her, just barely brushing her forehead with his lips, "They can take care of themselves, too. You worry too much."

A small smile danced on the corners of the girl's mouth.

"This from the guy who just ten minutes ago carried me back to my room," she reminded him, looking up and smiling at his now midnight blue eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, smiling back, "Let's get down to breakfast. I'm pretty sure Tennyson's awake by now and I don't want to miss seeing him mess something up again."

The red head rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she said with a resolute sigh and let him lead her out of the gorgeous bedroom, "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Back at the living room, everyone was strangely quiet. You could hear a pin drop. The only sound was Eunice occasionally clattering the plates.<p>

"So, happy anniversary," was Ben's weak attempt at conversation, "How long have you guys been married now?"

"Eleven years," Gwen answered promptly.

"Well, that's…something," the boy muttered, "And you only have one kid, Jenny, right?"

"She's your cousin, Kenny," the blonde laughed, "Shouldn't you know that?"

"Um, right," the 16-year-old stated, "I guess I should."

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a very out of breath Kenny. Everyone turned to stare at the 10-year-old as he staggered in, grabbed a waffle, and turned to face the room.

"Is Jenny here yet?" he gasped between huge bites of waffle.

"No, and slow down!" Eunice cried, pulling the waffle out of the boy's hand, "You'll choke yourself."

"Sorry, Eunice," the youngest bearer of the Omnitrix muttered and stretched out his hand, while wiping his mouth clean of crumbs with the other one, "Can I have it back now?"

"After you go sit down," the maid told him sternly, the hand holding his food on her hip, the other one pointing at the coffee table.

The green-eyed boy muttered something unintelligible and stalked over to the couch where the parallel version of his father disguised as him sat.

"Good boy," the blonde stated with a smile, and handed over the waffle.

"Is she like this in the future, too?" the brunette boy asked the bearer of the Ultimaterix once his parents' employee had turned her back on them and back to the plates.

"Like what?" the teen asked, frowning at the parallel version of his son, genuinely confused.

"Like Aunt Gwen or Jenny," the boy supplied, unable to find any other characteristics that would fit.

"Ahem," his godmother cleared her throat, bringing the boy's attention to her glaring, green eyes, which were just daring him to say something bad about her or her daughter. Both her arms and legs were crossed.

"So kind and sweet and nice and caring," he immediately poured out, eyes widening in fear of his aunt. She smiled and sank back into her seat.

The parallel version of the red head's cousin laughed. It was good to know that some things, like Gwen being one of the most terrifying people on the planet, didn't change in any universe.

"Of course she is," he stated, smiling at the blonde as she came up with a huge glass pitcher of orange juice. "She practically raised me."

"Aw, sweetheart," the blonde smiled, "That is so sweet of you to say. But I ran into Devlin earlier, and he said something about me not working here in the future…"

"Oh, he did?" the teen asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Kenny, didn't you say that there were some sort of rules about what you can and can't tell someone about the future?" the anodite asked, leaning forward so that she could better see the boy's expression.

"Um, yeah," the 16-year-old answered, "But from time to time things like that just slip out. I'll have to talk about that with him later."

"Hey, what's with him?" the 10-year-old suddenly asked, pointing at Edwin with his waffle. The man was just sitting there, staring off into space like he was in shock.

"Devlin," the green-eyed woman said, slight concern visible in her voice as she turned to look at her husband. She'd gotten enough wisdom from her cousin's son for one day, and had no desire for any more of it. However, luck didn't seem to be on her side.

"Devlin and Uncle Ed?" Kenny cried and turned from his favourite aunt to the teenage version of his father, "What happened?"

This seemed to bring the black-haired man out of whatever world he was on and back to reality.

"I asked him to leave my Jenny alone, and he said no," he croaked out, turning his head to look at all the faces in the room that were fixated on him, "He said that I had no say in her life, and that I was an idiot."

"That doesn't sound like Devlin," the raven-haired teen's best friend commented, "Are you sure that's what he said?"

"I'm sure," Edwin answered, nodding his head. This was, of course, not true at all. The teen had barely even said anything about the man. But he was more convinced now than ever that Devlin Levin was no good for his daughter. His father was a liar and a murderer, so why should his son be any different?

If Edwin was being honest with himself, though, he knew that the raven-haired teen was sincere, that he cared about Jenny, and that he was also right. Jenny was his daughter, but that didn't mean she was his. The man was just too afraid of losing his little girl, and didn't want to lose her. He had only had his daughter for 10 years, and wasn't ready to lose her yet. Even if that was in the future. Edwin didn't want to see the red head kissing any boys until, well, he never wanted to see her kissing anyone in general. In his eyes, she'd always be a little girl, and little girls shouldn't be dating boys whose fathers were locked up in extra-dimensional jail! So, Edwin would do all in his powers to break the couple apart. The fact that he had to lie to his wife, who he truly did love, was just a minor set back.

"I'll talk to him after the party," the said wife said in a hard voice as her husband's words sank in. No one talked to the people Gwen Tennyson cared about that way, even if they were dating her daughter. She sighed and brought herself out of her dark thoughts. "Anyway, Kenny, what did you want with Jenny?"

"She said she's gonna teach me how to dance," the boy said, cringing at his own words.

"I remember when she taught me how to dance," the teen laughed, remembering the night before that wedding six years ago, "It was…not the most humiliating thing I've ever been through."

"Really?" his son asked in surprise, "Then what was?"

"If I told you, it'd really mess with the space-time continuum," the green-eyed teen said holding up his hands in dismissal.

Just then, the door swung open again, this time revealing Jenny and Devlin, a wicked smile on the girl's face, a smirk on the boy's.

"Alright, doofus," the brunette boy's cousin said, standing in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips, "Time to learn how to dance."

"Ugh," the boy groaned, "You brought him? Are you trying to kill me?" He was furiously pointing at Devlin, his green eyes fixated on the laughing young girl.

"Don't worry, man," Devlin chuckled, stepping forward and placing a pale hand on his friend's shoulder, "I'm here to support you one hundred per cent. No matter how utterly humiliating this will be, no matter how much you stink at this, no matter how-"

"Alright, I get it!" the 10-year-old interrupted his adopted brother, "Dude, what happened to your hair?"

Devlin gave a small shrug. "Jenny," he said, as if though that one word explained all the questions in the universe. Kenny gave a firm nod before waving him away and walking over to his cousin. "Alright, dweeb, let's get this over with."

The red head smiled and looked over his shoulder at Eunice.

"Eunice?" she said in a sugar sweet voice, "Music, please."

The maid smiled and grabbed one of the thousands of remotes in a bowl next to the TV and hit a button. The lighting immediately dimmed and the ceiling shifted to reveal a disco ball. Music from Shag Carpet started to play. Everyone stared at the maid in surprise.

"Oops!" she cried, pressing that same button again and making the horror disappear, "Sorry. Wrong button." She pressed another one, and piano music filled the large room.

"Oh, I wish I had a camera," Jenny's mother laughed, shaking her head in amusement.

"You're never gonna let him live this down, are you?" Ben asked Devlin, who was sitting next to him and watching the show before him like a hawk.

"No chance in hell," the raven-haired boy agreed.

Out in the huge space in the room that no one had bothered occupying with any furniture, Jenny was busy trying to teach her cousin how to dance, and so far, he was hopeless at it. After nearly every step, he would step on her toes. Soon the young anodite was wondering if he wasn't doing it on purpose.

"Just step in a square," she coached, "Step, and step, and – ow!"

"What?" the boy cried, stopping his stepping and frowning at his cousin, "I was doing what you said!"

"You stepped on my toes again, you moron!" she snapped.

"Ugh, I suck at this dancing thing," the 10-year-old declared.

"No one's great at first," the blue-eyed girl said, trying to be encouraging.

"Well, at least Kevin and Gwen aren't here to see this," he said, trying to put things in perspective. There was no way he'd escape without at least fifty tormenting words of anything but encouragement from the osmosian. He shuddered at the thought.

And then, as if though someone out there had heard him and was trying to make this the worst day ever, the door opened again, and in stepped Kevin Levin, Gwen Tennyson, and Great-grandpa Max Tennyson.

"Good morning everyone," the old man laughed, smiling at his two great-grandchildren.

"Ah!" Kenny yelled and jumped back from his cousin, tripping over his own feet and landing on his ass.

The red head put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"You really need to work on your landings," she told him, rolling her ice blue eyes.

The two teens laughed with the retired Plumber as they sat down at the coffee table, too. Extra chairs had been brought in, but none of them were occupied yet. Max took a seat on the couch next to Devlin, while Kevin sat down in the arm chair, his beloved girlfriend leaning against the arm.

"This is stupid!" the 10-year-old cried, getting up and throwing his arms in the air in exasperation, "I am not doing this!"

"Would you do it if your dad told you to?" Ben asked, looking at his son with wide, innocent eyes.

"No," Kenny declared, shaking his head furiously.

Kevin frowned and tapped his chin. Like everyone else, he wanted to see this happen, and didn't want the adult, parallel version of his girlfriend to suffer the humiliation of having someone in her family who couldn't dance. The kid just needed some motivation. For him, taking his beloved red head to the dance was enough, for his best friend, it had been enough to not want to look stupid in front of a bunch of people at a wedding. Now, what could motivate Kenny…

"Hey, does the kid have a crush on a girl, or something?" he wondered, looking directly at Devlin.

"Yeah," the raven-haired boy confirmed, a confused look on his face, "On Charmcaster's daughter, Allura. Why?"

"No reason," the osmosian said with a shrug.

"I do not!" Kenny cried, glaring at his best friend. Everyone ignored him.

"They are coming to the party, aren't they?" the teenage Gwen asked, catching on to her boyfriend's malicious motives.

"Why would they?" Edwin asked, frowning at her.

"Charmcaster still hates your mother, remember, sweetheart?" Grandpa Max said to the red haired girl.

"She meant that she'd probably just show up to use the opportunity to humiliate Gwen again, as usual," the 16-teen-year-old boy said. His friends looked at him in surprise. His left eye was twitching, as it normally did when he lied, but no one noticed. Since when was Ben a good liar? Oh, well. Hanging out with an ex-con was bound to have some side effects.

"That's true," the adult red head agreed, "She has showed up to ruin a lot of the past celebrations."

"But what does thhat have to do with anything?" Edwin asked, frowning at the teen, momentarily forgetting that he was still supposed to be mad at him.

The osmosian smirked and turned to the young boy on what was now the dance floor.

"Hey, Kenny!" he called. Both of the kids snapped their attention to the 17-year-old. "You know, Allura and her mom are gonna be staking out the party tonight."

"Yeah?" the bearer of the Omnitrix croaked out, trying to seem indifferent and failing miserably, "So?"

"So, what's she gonna think if you can't dance?" a wicked smile now adorned the raven-haired teen's face.

Kenny froze. What would Allura think? Probably that he was some sort of loser sitting in the corner all by himself. Usually, at these parties, the guests brought their kids along, too, to make it more fun, and sometimes it was. Now everyone would no doubt have mastered the art of ball room dancing, and he really would be the loser stuck in the corner all by himself. But, if he learned how to dance, and Allura really did show up, maybe he could even make her jealous by dancing with Emma, the prettiest girl in his class. Her mother was a human, but her father was a Galvanic Mechamorph, like Upgrade.

"From the top, Eunice!" the boy cried, waving at the maid over his cousin's shoulder.

Jenny turned back and gave Kevin a grateful smile, which he returned, as well as a nod.

Fumbling with the remote, the blonde finally hit another button, making one of the walls burst into flames.

"Ah!" Kenny cried as he and Jenny both jumped back.

"Sorry!" she cried and pressed the same button again, making the wall disappear.

"Maybe you should let someone else handle the remote, Eunice," Ben said gently, taking the piece of technology from the young woman's fingers and staring at it himself, "How the heck do you work this thing?"

"Give it," the teen's friend demanded, holding out his large hand across the table, "before you kill us all."

The bearer of the Ultimaterix handed over the remote, pouting slightly.

"So, how'd you know that would work?" Devlin asked the parallel version of his father, eyes wide with wonder, a slight smile on his lips.

"Simple," the osmosian stated, shrugging and leaning forward in his seat, "Why'd you learn to dance?"

"Because of Jenny," the boy replied simply.

"And why'd I learn how to dance?" the raven-haired teen prompted.

"Because of Jenny," he repeated.

"And why's Kenny learning how to dance?" the 17-year-old continued.

"Because of Allura," the 10-year-old finished.

"Exactly," the teen confirmed, "You see a pattern in the makings here."

"Sort of," the boy admitted.

"By the way, dancing is not gonna impress Allura," the teenage Gwen stated, "She's the daughter of an evil, magical sorceress. He'd have to rob a bank or something."

"Babe, you know that, and I know that," her boyfriend told her, looking up into her azure eyes, "But young Kenneth out there doesn't know that."

The red head rolled her eyes.

"You have got to be the most conniving person I have ever met," she smirked.

"Oh yeah?" the teen asked, smirking slightly, "Even more conniving than your beloved ant Kai?"

"Yes, even more conniving than her," the anodite confirmed, and leaned down to press her lips against his. What started out as a small peck, turned into a heated, passionate make out, and everyone averted their eyes.

"Jenny!" the adult Gwen suddenly snapped, causing the two teens to break apart. Gwen was now on Kevin's lap, and both of them turned to the woman in surprise.

"Yeah, Mom?" the youngest red head called in a pained voice. Kenny had stepped on her foot again.

"Not you, sweetheart," the girl's mother called back and turned her attention to the couple, "You two – cut that out. I swear, if I see you making out in a public place again, Jennifer, you are grounded for a month. Understood?"

They just stared at her in surprise. Gwen was never hostile. It wasn't in her genes. Sure, she could be pretty scary when she wanted to, but never like this. And yet, here she was, spewing venom at her own daughter. The 16-year-old was so surprised that she didn't even bother to correct the woman's use of her name.

"Um, sure," she managed to croak out and disentangled herself from Kevin's arms.

"Good," the oldest anodite stated and got up, "Now, I'm gonna go double security at the party tonight. Who knows what spells Charmcaster's gonna use to get in?"

With that the young woman left the room.

"What's with her?" the 17-year-old asked everyone at the coffee table.

"You'll see after the party," his best friend said miserably, knowing full well that the osmosian was in for a boatload of trouble.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you liked it! Again, I am so sorry this took me so long! I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner, though! Don't forget to review! =)


	12. Chapter 12

After breakfast, which included several remarks about Kenny's failure when it came to dancing, everyone went their separate ways. Kai had told them all that Gwendolyn was spending the day at the infirmary, but would probably be up for the party. She had also added that the adult Gwen shouldn't be too mad if something happened and the girl missed it. They were doctor's orders, after all. This had resulted in yet another fight, of course, ending with both women being carried off to their bedrooms by their husbands. After that, Ben 10,000 left the house to search the city for criminals and the other adults went to put the finishing touches on the ball room for the party tonight, while the kids stayed inside, Jenny still continuing her fruitless attempts to teach Kenny how to dance, and the others making fun of him. It was getting later and later, until, finally, 7 p.m. arrived – exactly one hour before the party.

"Okay, that's enough dancing," the younger red head decided. Her feet were aching and she had absolutely no idea how she would make it back to her room. The three teens and her probable future boyfriend were still sitting around the coffee table – Gwen and Kevin on one couch, Ben across from them, and Devlin on the arm of the arm chair.

"You think I'm ready?" her cousin asked doubtfully.

"No," she answered, already heading for the door, "But my feet hurt and the party starts in one hour. We have to get ready."

"Great, now I'm gonna look like a moron!" the green-eyed 10-year-old whined, "Thanks a lot, Jen!"

"You didn't need her help to look like a moron," Kevin argued, trying to hold back a laughing fit. Kenny glared at him.

"You're welcome, anyway," the younger boy's cousin said. He stuck his tongue out at her and she smirked. "Well, I'm going back to my room to change. And, for your sake, I hope Allura and her mother don't show up."

"Oh, come on, Jenny," Devlin teased, his eyes shining brightly, "Don't be so negative. He could still dazzle her with his conversation skills. Oh, no wait. He's doomed."

"Thanks for the support, Dev," the boy's brother said, and turned to glare at him.

"Both of you, stop it," Gwen said to the raven-haired boy and the parallel version of her daughter before turning to the brunette boy, "It doesn't matter if you're a good dancer or not. If she likes you, it should be for who you are. Not how well you dance."

"Yeah," the girl's cousin agreed, smirking, "I mean, you liked Kevin even before he learned how to be a snooty prep for your dance."

"Shut your pie hole, Tennyson," the older teen grumbled, glaring at his friend. Said friend gave him a bright, overly innocent smile.

"As fun as this is," Jenny said, bringing everyone's attention back to her, "I'm going to my room now before my feet kill me."

"Maybe you should go down to the infirmary," the parallel version of the girl's mother suggested, frowning slightly, "He did step on your toes at least 500 times."

"That wasn't my fault!" the younger bearer of the Omnitrix cried, "Jenny's a bad teacher."

"Or your just a moron who can't dance," Devlin once again interjected.

"Fine, sorry, Jenny!" Kenny snapped, throwing his hand in the air in exasperation.

"Don't worry about it, dweeb," the little red head said absent-mindedly, limping her way to the doorway, "You'll make it up to me by trying to dance tonight, and missing that isn't worth all the pain in the world! And I'm not going to miss the party. Mom would probably ground me for a month!" She hurried out the door and yelled out her room number. The wall immediately slid aside, taking the young anodite with the aching feet back to her room.

"Yep, that does sound like Gwen," the said red head's obnoxious cousin said, chuckling to himself. The girl leaned across the coffee table and hit him on the back of the head. "Ow," the teen grumbled. The 16-year-old leaned back in her seat, a smug smile on her beautiful face.

"The kid's right about one thing, though," Kevin suddenly said, seeming oblivious to the exchange, "We have to get ready for the party."

"Are we even going?" Gwen asked, frowning at him, "I mean, let's face it. We're not exactly gonna be on the guest list."

"Not to mention, we've got nothing to wear," the bearer of the Ultimaterix added.

"I'm sure Grandpa Max will find something," Devlin said, trying his best not to let them know that he thought this was the most risky, ridiculous idea ever. He absolutely loved it! "And I think Kai still has some of her old dresses here."

"Great," the red head said sarcastically.

"Come on, Gwen," the 16-year-old boy tried to cheer her up, "It won't be that bad. I mean, Kai does seem to have pretty good taste."

"Not to mention," the anodite's boyfriend added, "She looks smoking hot in leather."

She glared at them both. The phrase 'if looks could kill' suddenly popped into the two younger boys' minds.

Just then, the living room door opened and revealed Ben 10,000 dressed in a tux, smiling crookedly.

"Hey, kids," the man greeted them, "So, how do I look?"

The osmosian opened his mouth to tell him that he looked like a moron going to prom, but his girlfriend quickly grabbed his hand.

"Don't," she hissed. His eyes immediately grew wary.

"You look great, Dad," Kenny answered, smiling back, "Really…ball-like. Aunt Gwen's definitely not gonna kick you out this year."

"Thanks, Kenny," the boy's father said approvingly, "But you're still going to the party." His tone had turned disapproving.

"But Dad!" the 10-year-old whined again, "I'm gonna look like a doofus out there! I'm hopeless at all this ball, cultural, preppy stuff."

"No buts, Kenneth," the man said firmly, "Look at your brother. He's not complaining at all. Why can't you be more like him?"

The teenage versions of the two boys' fathers exchanged looks before all four guys burst into laughter. An amused smile spread across the anodite's mouth as she tried to hold back her laughing fit, too.

"What's so funny?" Ben 10,000 asked.

"Nothing…Dad," his son managed to choke out.

"It's just that if I were more like him," the teenage version of Ben said, after his laughing fit was over. Or, so he thought. As soon as that part was out of his mouth, he started full-on laughing again.

"He'd be living in his parents' garage, worrying about his car non-stop, making illegal tech deals, and fighting aliens every day on the side," his cousin finished for him.

"What?" the man said, completely confused now. Why on Earth was his adopted son living in his garage in the future? And worrying about a car? No one had driven a car on Earth for about 20 years!

"Don't ask," the 17-year-old told him, waving his hand dismissively and not even bothering to deny his girlfriend's accusations.

"Alright then," said the man, still not understanding what was so funny. He decided to let it go…for now. "Why aren't you kids getting ready? There's only an hour left until the party. Jenny, I thought you liked all these classical, formal-type…things."

"I do, but we don't have anything to wear," the red head supplied, rolling her eyes at his assumption. It was true that she did like dances, but sometimes the girl had to admit that she preferred the simple things. Like, if she and Kevin were celebrating their anniversary, they'd go to, well, an auto show, probably, but after that dinner at a simple place. Other things were apparently required to be formal. Like her mother's family reunions. Had the parallel version of her really turned into Natalie Tennyson? No way. "We didn't exactly get here with suitcases full of dress clothes."

"Hmm, good point," the man muttered, "And what about you two? What's your excuse?" He was glaring pointedly and suspiciously at his two sons. Maybe Devlin wasn't putting up that much of a fight because he already had an excuse not to go… like perhaps 'accidentally' dropping his tux into the trash chute.

"Pretty much the same thing," the blue-eyed boy said with a shrug, "Kai had our tuxes dry-cleaned and now we have no idea where they are."

"Ugh, fine," he grumbled, holding his head in one hand, "Devlin, Kenny, go find Eunice. She'll know where they are. Other Devlin and Kenny, go find Grandpa Max. He'll find something for you two. Jenny, come with me. We'll find Kai and she'll give you one of her old dresses. Although you are more Gwen's size when she was your age… Ah, she'll find you something."

With that he turned around and started heading out the door, expecting the kids to do as he said.

"Do we have to?" Kenny grumbled as the other four stood up.

"Yes," Gwen told him firmly, "I'll see you guys later. And please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." With that she hurried on after the adult version of her obnoxious cousin.

Kevin scoffed.

"Why does she just automatically assume that when she's gone, we're gonna do something stupid?" he demanded, glaring at the general direction his girlfriend had gone with the adult version of his best friend.

"Because, when she's gone, we usually do something stupid," the younger boy told him.

"Not true," the 17-year-old argued, "Sometimes we do stupid stuff when she's around."

"Uh huh. So, where do you think Grandpa Max is?" the teenage Ben asked him distractedly, as they left the living room and stopped at the door.

"Probably downstairs in his RV," Kevin answered simply, "Let's go." They went to the right – the opposite direction which the raven-haired teen's girlfriend and Ben 10,000 had gone.

This left the two boys to go searching for Eunice.

"So, where do you think she'll be?" Kenny asked, frowning as they turned a corner and headed down the hall.

"Maybe the kitchen?" his best friend suggested, turning around yet another corner, "There's gonna be, like, a thousand people at that party. Your aunt's gonna need all the food she can get."

"Worth a shot," the 10-year-old said, "Race you there!"

With a short laugh, the other boy ran after him.

* * *

><p>The teenage Gwen was walking down the corridor with the adult Ben at her side. She was, quite frankly, feeling a little awkward. What were you supposed to say to a guy who thought he was your mother's cousin, but was really your cousin, and who considered your boyfriend his worst enemy's son, but who was actually a parallel version of that same enemy? God, her life was so complicated now! The young anodite remembered when it had been as easy as going to karate tournaments and fishing at the lake with her grandfather. Now she was dating an ex-con who was still in danger of being put in jail, and fighting aliens in her spare time, while trying to keep her annoying cousin from being killed by fan girls. Oh, what fun!<p>

"So, ahem, Jenny," Ben 10,000 cleared his throat, bringing her out of her thoughts. It was clear he was feeling just as awkward as she was, and felt the need to fulfill the silence with some sort of conversation. "How have you been?"

"Fine," the red head answered honestly, "A little stressed but okay. Trying to get your boyfriend into high school isn't exactly the easiest job in the world." Another project to add to her long list. But she really didn't mind. It meant she'd get to spend time with her favorite osmosian, and it was an excuse to get out of having to deal with kids who got into detention. Sometimes the teacher there had some excuse as to why she couldn't be at the class instead, and made her do it. Because she was perfect little Gwen Tennyson, who always did everything everyone told her to. The girl's hands clenched into fists at the thought, and she almost didn't hear Ben's next words.

"What?" he asked, that same confused look that had been on his face when they had all started laughing at his suggestion that Kenny be more like Devlin. "Why is Devlin having problems getting into a high school when he's 16? Did he get held back a year?"

It would have been so easy to accept her cousin's suggestion, but her personal pride wouldn't let her. Devlin was a smart kid, probably as smart as Kevin, and she was not about to get him into any trouble with his adopted father.

"No," she lied, shaking her head firmly, "It's because no school would take him."

"What? Because he's Kevin Levin's son?" the hero demanded. Rage was evident on his face now. Obviously, he didn't like that people judged someone he considered his son because of what his real father had done. It was just plain wrong! "That's just stupid!"

"I know," the girl agreed, and then a sudden idea came to her. She tried to keep her voice just as defeated as it had been before as she uttered her next words: "He's probably smarter than half the 16-year-olds out there. Mom's been home-schooling him for the past six years."

"Gwen?" he cried, his features twisting into an amused smile, "Why on earth would I want to do that to my son? No offence, sweetheart, but your mother can get a little bit…well, crazy."

The red head raised her eyebrows and stopped in the middle of the hall, her arms crossed on her chest, shifting so that her weight supported by one leg. It was a posture that both Ben and Kevin – if they had been there at that moment, – would have recognized. It meant the man was treading on thin ice, and that if he didn't immediately back-pedal, there was gonna be trouble.

He seemed to get that, too, and raised his hands up in surrender, stopping just about two or three feet away.

"Crazy?" she repeated, "Didn't she teach you karate?"

"Well, yeah," the older bearer of the Omnitrix agreed, "but that was karate. We're talking about real life here."

"Oh," the anodite continued, "And I suppose you don't think she's qualified to teach anything else? Even if she did finish school with higher grades than you could ever hope to get?"

"Fine, you have a point, but, still-"

"Good," she interrupted, a bright smile on her face, "Then you'll talk to her, or should I?"

Ben opened his mind to protest again, but he could see it would be futile. Jenny was just like her mother – stubborn, and unrelenting. She wouldn't stop until she had her way. It was better to just give in now before he ended up looking like a total idiot. And Gwen was qualified enough to be a teacher, even if it did mean that he would be having an hour-long argument with Kai that night. Also, she already did home-school Jenny whenever she had the chance, and the girl did seem to have turned out alright… Maybe this was a good idea.

"Fine," he finally agreed with a sigh of defeat, "But can it wait until after the party? Your mother's in a bad enough mood as it is. The flowers got mixed up and she got purple… somethings instead of yellow roses."

"Alright," she agreed with a slight smirk, "And do we really have to walk to your room?"

"Oh, that's right," Ben said quickly, apparently just remembering that he could get to any room in the house just by yelling out the name, "Room B10!"

The wall opened up, and the green-eyed man quickly grabbed his parallel cousin's arm, making them both get suctioned up and pulled through various passages, until they finally stopped at a square of light, causing both of them to topple down into a large, king-sized bed.

The 16-year-old groaned and opened her eyes. Her mouth dropped open in shock. In front of her, was the most beautiful room the young girl had ever been in. It was huge, about twice the size of her living room back home, with one wall entirely made out of glass overlooking the city. The other three were all a dark green. The wall that was across from the window seemed to contain nothing but two sets of large, wooden doors. The one to the left had several large picture frames, a vanity table, a desk, a chair by each one, of course, and the entrance to the room. The wall across from it was the one that the bed was propped up against. The comforter was soft, black cotton, and the pillows were white and feather-soft. On either side of the bed was a nightstand, each one holding only a lamp. The carpeting was black and extremely beautiful, and the ceiling seemed to be covered in light bulbs. Even if it was nearly night outside, this place shone as brightly as if it were daylight. Only one thought crossed the anodite's mind as she looked around the room: These people lived like kings.

"Wow," she whispered, sitting up.

Across the room, standing by the window, was Kai, her black hair glistening as she stared out at the fading sunset. She was dressed only in a cream-colored, fluffy bathrobe. As she turned around, she gave both newcomers a dazzling smile. Gwen could see that she'd had her make up done already.

"Ben!" the woman cried in an overly enthusiastic voice, running over to her husband, who had gotten off the bed, and hugging him tightly. They looked like a picture-perfect, happy couple. A little _too_ perfect if you asked the red head. "Jenny! What are you two doing here?"

"Jenny didn't have anything to wear so I thought maybe you have something," Ben answered honestly, "You do, don't you?"

"I'm pretty sure I could find something if I looked hard enough," Kai told him, releasing her hold and turning to assess the teenage version of her goddaughter.

"Great," her husband said with a relieved sigh, "Well, I guess I'll be going now. Edwin asked me to check one more time if security was tight enough. We don't want a repeat of last year."

Apparently, Gwen and Edwin's anniversary party was one of the most waited-for celebrations in this town. You weren't a 'somebody' unless you got an invitation, and last year, apparently some terrorists had crashed the party, trying to kidnap the older anodite for ransom money. Everyone knew the Tennysons had plenty of it. Unfortunately, they underestimated just how powerful the woman's left hook was.

"Definitely," Kai agreed, shuddering, "You go ahead, I'll find something for Jenny."

"Thanks, gorgeous," Ben 10,000 said, kissing her on the lips lightly before heading to the exit, "See you at the party!"

His wife waved good-bye, and then immediately turned on the 16-year-old, who still hadn't moved from her spot on the all-too-comfortable bed. She assessed her for a moment again, and Gwen resisted the impulse to cross her arms over her chest and curl up in a small ball. She didn't like being scrutinized, especially not by the girl who had once broken her cousin's heart.

"Hmm, do you like shopping, Jenny?" she finally asked, tapping a finger to her lips.

"Of course," Gwen told her slowly, "Who doesn't?"

A wide smile graced the Native American's face and she walked over to the bed and held out her hand. After a slight hesitation, the anodite took it and let her lead her to one of the two double doors at the other end of the room.

"Well, then you're in for a real treat," she laughed her silvery laugh and pushed open the door.

* * *

><p>In the middle of the kitchen, frosting a beautiful cake with delicate flowers, was Eunice. She had been in the room all day, and her arms were getting tired, but she didn't let it stop her. She needed to decorate this cake, just like the caterer had told her to, and then give it to the waitress to bring to the ballroom. The blonde had never been to one of the anodite's parties as a guest before. She had been invited to serve the tables and cook, but never as a guest. It just wasn't her place.<p>

Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps just outside the door. No, not footsteps. More like a whole heard of buffalos running straight for the kitchen. Devlin and Kenny. The maid sighed and left her post at the cake to go to the door. She opened it a crack and, sure enough, the two boys were running towards her. Kenny came to a sudden halt and Devlin followed, ramming right into him, knocking them both to the floor.

"Haha! I win!" the young hero announced, sitting up.

"No chance!" the other boy cried, hitting him playfully on the arm.

"Ahem," the blonde interrupted. "What are you two doing?" she asked, a small smile on her face. She opened the door a little wider and stepped forward, her hands on her hips.

"Trying to find you," Devlin answered, getting up and giving the maid a slight smile.

"Yeah," his adopted brother agreed, getting up as well, "Dad said you knew where our tuxes were."

The blonde gave a slightly exasperated sigh and opened the door wider, letting the two boys into the kitchen that both felt and smelled like an oven.

"I think they're somewhere in here," she mused, walking over to one of the large drawers and pulling it open, "Your mother gave them to me to dry-clean and I think I left them somewhere here…Where are they?"

The maid was so caught up in her search that she didn't even notice what the two 10-year-olds were doing. They were both standing in the doorway, awe-struck by the sight. It was every kid's dream! Set on the counter were trays of pastries, several huge cakes, bowls of whipped cream, frosting, and candy. Nothing in the Tennysons' house was store-brought or artificial. Everything was specially made. Even their clothes weren't just from the mall like normal people's. Kai bought only designer labels, now even for Devlin.

Kenny immediately hurried to the nearest bowl of jelly candy, while Devlin grabbed huge spoonfuls of whipped cream.

"I can't find them!" Eunice cried, turning back to the room, her hands on her hips. She gasped once she saw the two boys. Devlin's mouth was covered in whipped cream and chocolate, while Kenny's looked like he had been smearing his face with chocolate sauce and peanut butter.

"Thas akay Unese," Kenny said, his mouth full of chocolate, "Will figue somthen ow."

"Boys!" the maid cried out in exasperation, grabbing them by their wrists and pulling them back to the doorway, "I wish you two could have a little more self-restraint. Now you won't be able to enjoy all the sweets at the party."

"Big deal," the son of Earth's greatest hero grumbled, "Most of the time, we're only allowed to eat the shrimp and salads anyway. Anything else is just 'bad manners'."

"That doesn't sound right," the young woman said, "What am I wasting my breath for in here if you kids can't enjoy all the treats?"

"'The cakes are for show, not for eating'," the brunette boy quoted what his mother had been telling him for years now.

"He's right," Devlin said with a shrug, wiping his mouth with his free hand, "That's what Kai always says."

Eunice sighed.

"Well, I guess it's none of my business," she finally said, "Oh! That's right! Your great grandfather!"

"What?" Kenny asked. What did great grandpa Max have to do with Kai's 'no sweets at parties' rule? He was pretty much the only one actually allowed to eat the pastries!

"I left your tuxedos with him," the maid recalled, "He said he'd look after them since I had so much to do. Go and find him."

"Great," Devlin said sarcastically. Gwen really was gonna kill them if they ended up being late because of this dress up emergency.

"Oh, and do you know where the teens are?" Eunice asked, "I found something that I think will fit Devlin and Kenny while I was going through the laundry. Too bad I couldn't find anything for Jenny. Mrs. Goldstein will have to give her one of her old dresses."

"Actually, Dad already sent her off to Mom," Kenny said awkwardly. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Aunt Gwen probably wouldn't like it if her cousin in-law, or whatever Kai was to her, dressed up her daughter as a hooker. Even if she was 16.

"Really?" the maid asked, a smile threatening to break out across her face.

"What's so funny?" the blue-eyed boy asked. They had arrived at the kitchen door and were now standing outside in the hallway.

"Oh, it's nothing," she assured them, "Go find your great grandpa Max, and, if you see the two teenage yous, tell them to come to the kitchen and see me!"

"We'll tell them," Kenny told her. She gave them both a brilliant smile before going back to the kitchen to finish decorating the cake.

"So, you wanna race again?" the green-eyed by asked his friend.

"Nah," he answered, shaking his head, "Gotta save some energy for the dancing. Oh, wait, that's right, you can't dance."

Kenny glared at the other boy as he laughed, literally rolling on the floor. He lifted the Omnitrix up to eye-level, and pressed the dial, changing into Xlr8.

"Oh, Devlin?" the alien rasped. The 10-year-old stopped laughing to look up into the eyes of the creature, "You're gonna want to run now."

"Uh oh," he muttered, scrambling up and starting to run down the hallway. A wicked smile spread across Xlr8's face, and he took off after his friend.

* * *

><p>Several hallways away and about three floors down from the two boys, Kevin and Ben had arrived at the door to Grandpa Max's lab. Neither one knew the code, and the walls were sound-proofed, so they had no way to get in.<p>

"Couldn't you just bust this thing open?" Ben asked his best friend, frowning at him.

"I could," the osmosian admitted calmly, "But I won't."

"Why?" the 16-year-old demanded, crossing his arms on his chest, "Don't you want to get inside?"

"Yeah," the older teen stated, "But I am not about to bust down your grandpa's door."

"Oh, and busting down my door and breaking Gwen's doorbell back home is just fine?" the bearer of the Ultimaterix asked sarcastically.

"Tennyson, you know as well as I do that that was different," the raven-haired teen told him, glaring slightly.

"Yeah," the brunette teen said, rolling his eyes, "Those times, it wasn't as important. Now, would you bust down that door already?"

"No one's busting down anything," Max Tennyson's firm voice sounded behind the two teens. Both of them turned around to see the slightly irritated, shriveled, old face of the retired Plumber. "So, what can I do for you, boys?" he asked, stepping in between the two and punching in the code to the lab.

"We're going to the party tonight, and we have nothing to wear!" the green-eyed teen whined. It felt so natural, talking to the grey-haired old man that he forgot about everything else for that brief moment, and all that seemed important faded to the back of the boy's mind. The fact that they were in a parallel universe and this man could put his best friend in jail permanently wasn't all that significant when compared to the fact that he might miss a celebration, especially something like his cousin's anniversary, just because he didn't have a tux.

"Shut up, Cinderella," Kevin growled, as the old man stepped forward and punched in the room code, chuckling to himself.

"Sorry, there's nothing I can do for you, kids," he apologized, opening the door and stepping inside, leaving the teens little else to do but follow him, "I do have the tuxes for Kenny and Devlin, though."

"That's weird," Ben commented, "Ben 10,000 said Eunice would have their outfits and you'd have ours."

"Well, then, maybe Eunice has something for you two," the retired Plumber suggested, going over to his work table and picking up the remote that had sent the three kids here.

"Aren't you coming to the party?" the osmosian asked, eyeing the machine warily.

"Not this year," he answered with a sigh, "Someone has to figure out a way to send you kids back to where you came from, and Eunice sure can't do it."

"Eunice isn't coming either?" the brunette teen asked, frowning slightly as he stared at the various machines in the lab, "How come? And, dude, this place is almost as well stocked as Kevin's tool kit."

"Well, then you must have one hell of a tool kit, son," Max said, smirking at the 17-year-old, who scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. The old man then turned back to the younger teen. "No, Eunice isn't coming. She's got work to do back here."

"Huh," Ben said, stopping his examination of the place and lifting his mocking green eyes to meet his teammate's, "Who's the Cinderella now, Kev?"

"Still you," the raven-haired teen shot back, rolling his eyes, "But that doesn't really seem fair, does it?" His voice had reverted to that overly innocent pitch he used when playing some angle, and he had that same look in his eye as he'd had back the first time they'd met Eunice when camping.

"What doesn't seem fair?" his dim-witted companion asked, eyes wide with curiosity. He didn't even realize he was being manipulated.

"That poor Eunice has to stay here and work while everyone else is having fun at the ball," the ex-con answered, "Someone should do something about it."

"You know what, you're right," after a moment's consideration the 16-year-old agreed. He had caught on to his friend's plan by now, and both teens' eyes were shining brightly. "Someone should…"

"What are you two playing at?" Max wondered, shaking his head in amusement. When Ben was a kid, he had had a lot of friends, but not real friends, like apparently Kevin was. The retired Plumber could see that they were a good match for each other.

"Nothing much, sir," the osmosian said, turning back to him with a slight smile, "Just trying to figure out a way to help an old friend out."

"Yeah," his best friend agreed, looking back to the parallel version of his grandfather, "Hey, Grandpa Max, you wouldn't know where we could find a dress at this hour, would you?"

"Well, the mall's probably closed by now," he mused, "but Kai's closet is about the size of a store. Would that work?"

"Yep, that'll do," Kevin said, already heading towards the door. Just then, it opened up to reveal the two younger kids, completely out of breath.

"Hey…great grandpa…Max," Kenny panted, as he and Devlin both leaned against the doorframe, gasping for breath.

"You guys do know you have super powers, right?" the bearer of the Ultimaterix asked. The two kids glared at him.

"Yeah," the raven-haired boy seethed, "We know."

"Good then," the teen said, and brushed past them on his way out.

"Wait!" his parallel son cried, and the brunette teen froze in his tracks, "Eunice wants to see you."

"Well, what a coincidence," he said brightly, "We want to see her, too. Let's go, Kevin!" He ran out the door again. The 17-year-old stood rooted to the spot for a moment, rolling his eyes.

"What's your angle, kid?" Max asked him, slightly suspicious. He might be a Plumber now, and dating the man's granddaughter, but he was still Kevin Levin.

"Well, no offence to your grandson, sir," the teen said, flashing a bright smile, "but I really can't stand his wife."

"Gwen hate her just as much in your universe?" the retired Plumber guessed, a smile crinkling his brown eyes.

"Oh yeah," the obsidian-eyed teen admitted.

"Kevin!" the 16-year-old's whiny voice came from the doorway once again, "Come on!"

"Gotta go!" the osmosian said, and sprinted out through the door as well.

"What was that all about?" Kenny asked, once both boys had gotten their breath back.

"Kevin Levin's gonna try to fix up your dad with the maid," his adopted brother said simply, shrugging his slight shoulders as if though this was all obvious.

"How do you know that?" the brunette 10-year-old asked, frowning at him.

"I don't," the mutated boy answered, "Just a guess."

"Well, you're right," Max laughed, "So, what can I do for you two?"

"We need our tuxes or we're gonna be late!" the man's great grandson announced, "Eunice said you had them."

"Yes, I do," the old man answered, setting down the remote and starting to head for his RV. "Wait here," he instructed them. Both boys waited impatiently, before the man emerged. He was holding two black bags that looked more like they contained bodies than suits for a couple of ten year olds.

"Here you go," the retired Plumber said, handing one to each boy, "And, Kenny, I hope you like yours. It's a family heirloom."

"Really?" the boy asked, wonder lighting up his emerald green eyes, "Wow, thanks great grandpa Max!"

"Yeah, thank you, sir," Devlin said, automatically using the term. A smile spread across the old man's face.

"You're welcome," he said, "Run along now. The party starts in 25 minutes."

* * *

><p>Out in the hallway, Ben and Kevin were running to the nearest flight of stairs. They were intent on getting to Kai and Ben's room, wherever that was, as soon as possible. It only crossed the 16-year-old's mind that they really had no idea where the room was when his friend was already halfway up the staircase.<p>

"What's the hold up, Tennyson?" the osmosian snapped.

"I just realized we have no idea where the room is," the brunette teen announced, frowning up at the raven-haired teen, "And I don't think the house is gonna respond to our voices."

"Seriously?" the ex-con snapped, climbing back down the steps, "You only got that now?"

"Hey, don't blame me," Ben cried defensively, "You didn't figure it out either!"

"Great," the obsidian-eyed teen grumbled, "So, what do we do now?"

"I guess Eunice won't be going to that party after all," the bearer of the Ultimaterix mumbled sadly.

"Oh, well," Kevin said with a shrug, "Your wife might be a soulless little witch who only cares about herself, but at least she's hot."

"Thanks, Kevin," the younger teen drawled out sarcastically, "That makes me feel a lot better."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," the 17-year-old said with a smug smile, "And I don't get it. Don't you like Kai?"

"I did when we were kids," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "Before it turned out she wasn't as great as I thought."

"Uh huh," his friend said, rolling his eyes, "You mean, before you found out she only liked you because she thought you were gonna turn into a werewolf."

"Yeah, that too," the green-eyed boy agreed, "But now I don't know. I mean, she does seem like a pretty good mother. When she thought I was attacked she was worried as hell."

"Does a good mother just stand by making out with her husband while said husband agrees never to ground their adopted kid, who's probably gonna end up in Juvy sometime in the next seven years?" Kevin pointed out, obviously enjoying this. Going from defending the woman to offending her was extremely fun.

"I guess not, but hey," the 16-year-old snapped, "What side are you on, anyway?"

"Whichever side you're not," he said pointedly, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, a young girl, maybe 17 years old, who was some species that the two teens really couldn't identify, came running down the steps holding another black bag in her hand. She tripped over the stairs and fell down, crashing right into Kevin's outstretched arm before steadying herself.

"You alright?" he asked, holding the strange girl's upper arms.

"Yes," she answered in a slightly nasal voice. She was wearing a pale blue jumpsuit that covered her from neck to toe. Her skin was a strange orange color and shone like gills. Quite frankly, the overall affect was only a little disturbing, considering she looked like a monster from the deep. She let go of Kevin's arm and lifted her head slowly, taking her time to admire the teen's torso. She seemed to like what she saw very much indeed. "Thanks, um…who are you?"

"Uh, we're from the catering company that Mrs. Goldstein hired for her party," Ben said hurriedly, "We're on our way to the kitchen right now."

"Oh," the girl said, "Well, I'm the new delivery girl. I'm supposed to give this dress to Mrs. Kai Tennyson. She ordered it last week and it was a little late. Um, do you two know where her room is, by any chance?"

"Sure, we'll take it to her ourselves," the 17-year-old said, "You might've gotten hurt from that fall."

"No," the girl said, looking up into his eyes with a dazed expression, "I'm fine."

"Still, you should go," the younger teen said quickly, "Really, we'll take care of it."

"No, I'm supposed to make sure she gets it," the girl tried to object feebly, but she was still lost in the osmosian's eyes, and didn't even notice that he took the bag from her.

"It's no problem," the dark teen assured her, "Just go back to your job. As he said, we'll take care of everything."

"O-okay," she finally agreed, and the two boys took off up the stairs, leaving her behind, still completely dazed.

"Well, that was convenient," the green-eyed boy asked in amazement as they hurried up the stairs, then up another flight of stairs, and then down the hall to the kitchen. "How the hell do you do that?"

"Roughish charm, Benji," the older of the two chuckled as they came to a stop just outside the kitchen.

"Wait," Ben said quickly, "I'm not sure we should do this. I mean, maybe Kai's…sorta evil back in our dimension, but that doesn't mean she is here."

"Look, dude, even if you don't get together with the hot blonde tonight, which, by the way, just does not seem possible," his best friend said, making the younger teen roll his eyes, "we'll still have given Eunice a night out. Isn't that what we're really doing here?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but-" the 16-year-old was cut off by the kitchen door opening to reveal the hot blonde herself, standing in the doorway, her face red.

"Hey, guys," she said, smiling impishly, "Come on in, I've got your tuxedos all ready."

"Great," said Ben brightly, "And we brought something for you, too."

"Um, alright…?" the maid said doubtfully, as the two teens stepped into the toasty kitchen.

"Here you go," Kevin said, and slung the black bag over a nearby chair. Eunice frowned and walked over to it.

"It's not gonna bite me, is it?" she asked, remembering the last time the two kids had brought her something. What they had thought was a scarf had actually turned out to be a snake, and they'd had to call Ben away from a serious mission just to get it out of the house. Oh, how fun life was with these two around.

"No," the 16-year-old promised her, laughing slightly. She smiled back at him and walked over to the bag, unzipping it, and gasped. Inside was a pale pink dress on straps with a long skirt that got paler and paler until it grew white. Apparently, even in this universe those were her colors.

"Guys! This is amazing!" she declared, "But why are you giving me this?"

"Because you're going to the ball tonight," Kevin told her, still smiling, "Now, come on, Kenny, let's go so Cinderella can change."

"I can't go to the ball," Eunice said firmly, plopping down on the chair next to it.

"Why not?" the osmosian, who, along with his best friend, were already half-way out the door.

"Because, first of all, I don't have any make up," the maid said, looking up at both of them sadly, "And second, I wasn't invited."

"Okay, first of all," the brunette teen said firmly, "you don't need make up, you're perfect, and second, just use the service entrance. I doubt they'll even realize you're there."

"I don't know…" she said, warily eyeing the two teens.

"Come on," the 16-year-old said, giving her an encouraging smile, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Your mother could fire me," she answered firmly, slightly glaring at him.

"Or you could end up having the time of your life," he argued.

The blonde was still wary, but both teens could see that temptation was winning over whatever other concerns she had. After all, when was she gonna get another chance like this? She deserved to go have fun!

"Alright," the young woman finally agreed, "but if your mother or Gwen catch me-"

"You can blame it on us," Kevin finished for her, "Now, give us the suits so we can go."

"Alright," she repeated and handed them two carefully folded piles.

Once they were out of the kitchen, Kevin burst into laughter.

"What?" his friend asked, frowning at him in confusion.

"'You don't need make up, you're perfect'?" the osmosian quoted, "Dude, you know you have a girlfriend back home, right?"

"Yeah, you're right, too much," Ben agreed, shrugging, "That's exactly the kind of sappy thing you'd say to Gwen."

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, the adult Gwen and Jenny were standing in the ballroom dressed in their gowns. Jenny looked like a princess in her dark blue, sleeveless dress. Her hair was down, falling freely in waves down her shoulders. The girl's mother was dressed in a midnight blue dress as well, only this one didn't have a full skirt like her daughter's. It was made of some fabric that clung to her body, emphasizing every curve, and was sleeveless, as well. The woman's red hair was curled and put up in a bun, not a hair out of place. If her daughter looked like a princess, then she looked like a queen.<p>

"Where are they?" she demanded, frowning at the entrance to the room that led to the house. There was another, larger door on the wall to the left that led to the outside. That was where the gests would enter from. On the wall to the left of that one, was another, smaller door. This one was meant for staff. Next to it was a large stage. There was a band sitting in the corner, ready to play. Only, they had no idea how to play the instruments. There was a stereo cleverly hidden in the corner that would play the music required, making it seem like it was live. "It's already five to seven! If they don't hurry up, they'll be late!"

"Calm down, Mom," Jenny said, leaning back against a table, "I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"I hope so," Gwen grumbled, turning from the door to glare at the floor.

"You look beautiful," the 10-year-old declared, smiling slightly at her mother.

"Thank you, sweetheart," she said, looking up and giving her a brief smile, too, "You look wonderful, too."

"Thanks," the little red head said, blushing, and then blurted out without thinking, "Do you think Devlin will like it?" The girl's eyes widened in terror at what she had just said and she immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. But it was too late. The words had already escaped her mouth, and her mother's soft, green gaze had turned hard again.

"You know," she said in a tone that matched her expression, "I'm starting to doubt whether you should be seeing that boy at all. Maybe your father's right."

"What do you mean?" the blue-eyed girl asked, frowning slightly. The young woman sighed. It was time to come clean.

"Before your dancing lessons with Kenny," she started, looking at the floor and not her daughter, "Your father told us what happened with him and the teenage Devlin."

"They…talked?" Jenny barely managed to croak out. How on Earth could Kevin have been so stupid?

"Yes," she confirmed, her voice still hard, "Now, I won't tell you the details, but he said some things that neither of us will tolerate."

"Mom, please," the young anodite begged, her eyes pleading with her, "You know that Kevin has an explosive temper. Devlin probably inherited it. And, also, you know how Dad is. It's hard to be in the same room with him and not snap. Please, don't be too hard on him."

"Fine," the older red head said, a soft smile just barely pulling at the corners of her lips. She had to admit that she liked how defensive Jenny was when it came to Devlin. It proved that she really cared, and that was all she wanted from life for her daughter: someone she cared about and someone who cared about her. Not to mention that she was right. Gwen knew her husband and he had probably provoked the teen to say all those things. Not that he'd ever admit it, so she really had no proof. "I won't be too hard on him."

A relieved smile spread across Jenny's face and she hurried over to her mother to hug her.

"Thanks," she whispered again.

Then they heard the sound of footsteps and arguing in the hallway. The two females rolled their eyes and said at the same time: "The boys."

Sure enough, Devlin walked in a second later. He threw his arms up in exasperation, and turned back to the door.

"Come on, Kenny!" he snapped out through the crack in the door, "It's really not that bad!"

"Yeah it is!" the other 10-year-old's voice rang out.

"Is it that bad?" Jenny whispered, hurrying over to the door to whisper to the 10-year-old.

"Oh, yeah," he whispered back, holding back a chuckle. It was only then that they both realized what the other was wearing, and both promptly blushed. A few feet away, the adult Gwen was hiding a smug smile.

"You look really…pretty," Devlin told her, his eyes on the floor, ceiling, anywhere but her.

"Thanks," she answered, "You look nice, too." His hair was done up in a ponytail and he was wearing a black tux. The boy finally lifted his gaze to meet hers, and both kids smiled.

"I heard that!" the girl's cousin cried in a sing-song voice, first popping his head through the door, a devilish smile on his face, and then coming in the rest of the way. "You guys are so smitten. What?"

The two other kids were staring at him with amused smiles, obviously trying to hold back laughter. The 10-year-old was wearing a maroon tux that looked like it belonged in the 18th century, with a puffy white shirt under the waist coat. He seemed to realize only too late what the big attraction was.

"Uh oh," Kenny muttered and turned around, trying to escape the room. Jenny grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the room.

"Don't even think about it, dweeb," she scolded him teasingly, not letting go, just in case he tried to escape again.

"I recognize that," the young anodite's mother laughed, stepping over to the three kids, her hands on her hips, "Grandpa Max made Ben wear when we were ten. It looks a hell of a lot better on you, though, kid." Her smile was reassuring, and the boy felt a smile threaten to appear on his mouth, too. Maybe tonight wasn't gonna be as disastrous as he'd thought.

"Thanks Aunt Gwen," he said, "You look great, by the way."

"Thank you, now, where's your dad?" she demanded, scanning the room as if though expecting the man to be hiding behind one of the huge pots of yellow roses that now adorned the ball room. When they had arrived they had been purple orchids, but after trying out a bunch of spells, the anodite had finally managed to make them into her favorite flowers.

Suddenly, the elaborate, wooden door opened a crack, and Ben 10,000 barged in, dressed in a disheveled tux, his bow tie crooked.

"There," he announced, "Security's triple tight, the flower delivery guys are giving you a refund, and the waiters will be bringing out the first course as soon as everyone sits down and I've made my toast. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Even though the list of things the hero had to do to make sure his cousin's party went off without a hitch was absurd, he didn't even look slightly out of breath. Maybe a little irritated, but definitely not tired.

"Yes," his cousin announced, strolling over to him, a smirk on her pale, beautiful face, "You can straighten your bowtie." Her long, nimble fingers secured the thing in place and she smoothed out his shirt. "Perfect."

"Good," the green-eyed man said, smiling down at her, before turning to the kids, "Have any of you seen the teenagers?"

"No, sorry, Dad," Kenny said with a shrug, "Eunice said she'd found something for them, and I'm sure that whatever that was, it isn't half as bad as what you've made me wear." He pointed down at his outfit, making his friends snicker again.

"Kenny," his father said in a warning voice, stepping forward and away from his cousin, "that is a family heirloom. It would offend Grandpa Max if you didn't wear it. And besides, if I had to wear it, so do you." The last part he had just barely muttered under his breath, but his cousin still heard him.

"What a wonderful father you are," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Kenny hit his forehead against the heel of his hand.

"Cheer up, Kenny," the younger red head chirped, "The chances of Allura showing up tonight are about…10 to 1?" She looked up at her mother questioningly. Gwen nodded her approval.

"Yeah, man," Devlin agreed, "Security's air tight." Even though the raven-haired boy enjoyed seeing his adopted brother humiliated, he now felt generally inclined to cheer him up.

"He's right, son," Ben 10,000 stated, nodding furiously, "Not even Ghostfreak could get through to this party."

"Yeah, but journalists can," the 10-year-old muttered.

Suddenly, the door to the house burst open, and in walked the teenage Ben disguised as Kenny, and Kevin disguised as Devlin.

"Finally!" the first of the two cried, "Shouldn't there be a map of this house or something?"

"You can't even find your way in your own house?" Kevin cried, shaking his head in mocking shock, "You are a moron.

"Well, don't you two look dashing?" the adult Gwen mused, stepping towards them, ignoring the exchange. Both teens were wearing black tuxes, much like her cousin's, and both of them did look very dashing indeed.

"Thanks Aunt Gwen," the 16-year-old said quickly, smiling at her, "You look beautiful. And what am I wearing?" His eyes flitted to the parallel version of his son, slouching and glowering at the many, many circular tables spread throughout half the room and covered with white table cloths. At each table there were up to six chairs and place settings. The rest of the room was obviously meant to be a dance floor, since it was clear of any furniture. There were several small couches by the wall next to the door, and the flowerpots were placed at regular intervals along the walls. The overall effect was beautiful and dazzling, but the 10-year-old didn't seem to be admiring any of it.

"Don't you remember it?" Jenny asked in a sweet, innocent voice, "It's a family heirloom." She giggled behind her hand.

"Oh, right," the teen said, shuddering. He was almost positive that Kevin should be choking with laughter by now beside him. The bearer of the Ultimaterix lifted his eyes to see what the problem was. But the osmosian wasn't looking at him. He didn't even appear to be paying attention. His obsidian eyes were locked on something across the room. Ben frowned and followed the direction of his friend's gaze. His mouth fell open in shock. There, standing in the middle of the stage, was Kai, dressed in a long, creamy beige-colored satin gown that flowed around her body. It was strapless, which only added to the effect. The brunette was smiling smugly, as if though she was waiting to reveal some wonderful surprise from behind the dark blue curtains that were pulled back around the edges of the stage.

"Boys?" Ben 10,000 asked, frowning at them both. He turned his head and gasped.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Kenny inquired, frowning at the man in worry. The other four looked to see the smirking Native American descend the stairs in front of the stage and walk over to them all, draping her hands around her husband's neck. His hands wrapped instinctively around her waist.

"Hi, honey," she said, smiling devilishly, "How do I look?"

He only gapped at her.

Jenny giggled again.

"I think the phrase he's looking for is 'humina, humina, humina'," she said. Kai laughed her silvery laugh.

"Don't worry," she said softly, "Jenny's right behind me."

"You…dressed up…my daughter?" the adult Gwen nearly yelled. This brought all the guys out of whatever trances they'd been in and she immediately turned on her cousin. "How could you do this?"

"Oh, relax, Gwen," the young woman's in law said, stepping away from her stuttering husband and smiling at her, "You'll still be the star of the show…I think. Jenny, you come out now!"

Everyone turned their eyes back to the stage, and out from behind the curtains stepped the 16-year-old Gwen.

"Whoa," Kevin muttered, his eyes wide open in shock.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry this chapter took so long, and thank you to everyone for all their wonderful reviews! You guys are the best! Hope you liked it! =)


	13. Chapter 13

Kai led the teenage Gwen across the room to her closet and pushed the doors open. The 16-year-old could do nothing but gap at what was inside. It seemed more like a shopping mall, or at least a very large store, than a closet. There were racks of coats, shirts, pants, sweaters, dresses, and all other manners of clothes everywhere, pushed to the sides of the large space, creating a small passage in between them. Kai was right. This closet would have been every girl's dream!

The Native American started to weave expertly through the racks, leaving the red head no choice but to follow her.

"Let me see," she said to herself, "I could have sworn they were around here somewhere…No, that's not it…No, those are for Gwen…Ah! Here we are!"

She stopped by a particularly large rack, sporting all sorts of dresses that all seemed to be made for a teenager.

"These used to be mine," she informed the young anodite, taking down a white dress that looked an awful lot like the one she'd worn to the formal a few months ago. The woman held it up to the girl's chest and then tossed it somewhere on the floor behind her, reaching for a long midnight blue velvet one with straps instead. "Then I grew out of them." She tossed the blue dress on top of the white one, reaching for a purple one that seemed to shimmer in the lighting from the ceiling. "I was going to throw them out, but it seemed like such a waste. No, purple isn't really your color." The dress went on top of the pile. "So I decided to keep them." A forest green one with long sleeves was next. She forced the girl to turn around and held it to her back, taking hold of one of her arms and measuring whether or not the sleeve was long enough. Seeming to decide that this one didn't work either, she spun her back around and threw the dress on the heap. "Good thing I did, isn't it?"

"Um, yes?" Gwen tried, growing slightly uncomfortable as a yellow dress with puffy sleeves and a full skirt was pressed against her, "When did you get all these, anyway?"

"When I was sixteen," the young woman laughed at some memory, "Ben was Earth's greatest hero back then, too, you know. He and I had lots of parties to go to."

"Oh," the 16-year-old said. That explained why this one looked like a Disney princess's costume.

Kai frowned and tossed it back on the pile.

"You know, I don't think any of these will do," she mused, "Although your mother would have loved the green one."

The teen looked back to the heap of dresses on the floor.

"She would?" she asked, raising her eyebrows incredulously. The dress wasn't really her type. It looked more like it would fit in at one of her mother's extravagant Christmas parties.

"Well, on you, yes," the brunette corrected herself, "You know, your uncle really is a wonderful man. He bought me every single one of these."

"He's very generous," Gwen agreed, trying not to laugh at the words. Her cousin was very unselfish, of course, what with saving the universe all the time, but that was his job. When it came to everyday things like smoothies or burgers, unless they'd arranged it beforehand, either she or Kevin usually had to pay. Ben really was an expert at playing the 'I saved the whole entire universe' card at just the right moments. Most of the time the couple just gave in to shut him up.

"Yes, he is," the parallel hero's wife agreed, taking down a short strapless red dress with a ruffled skirt. "None of these are elegant enough!"

She tossed the dress back onto the growing heap on the floor and went back to looking through the rest of the dresses. Finally, she gave up and turned back to the teenage version of her goddaughter. "You need something black."

"Black?" the red head repeated, not sure if she'd heard her right.

"Yes," the woman confirmed, leaving the rack and going across the room – there really was no other way to call it – to another rack the 16-year-old hadn't noticed before. It was filled with every style imaginable of black dresses, all seemingly her size.

The raven-haired woman frowned and started going through them, being more careful this time not to do any permanent damage.

"Your mother will probably kill me for dressing you up," she muttered, seemingly talking to herself again, "so I might as well do it thoroughly."

"You're right," the green-eyed girl agreed after a moment. The woman turned back to her in slight surprise. "She probably will." There was a small, smug smile on the girl's face as Kai gave her a slight glare before turning back to the rack.

"Oh, this one will be perfect for you," she declared, taking down a long, satin dress carefully. The top part of the dress was like a wrap, going over the right shoulder, leaving the other bare, and connecting with the back once more. The skirt wasn't full.

"Are you sure?" the girl said doubtfully, reaching forward for the gown. It was the kind of dress the snobby girls back home would wear to formals, and, quite frankly, she wasn't sure if she could pull it off. She frowned as she noticed a long slit on either side of the dress. It looked more like two pieces of black cloth had been carefully stitched together to cover both the back and front, but not the sides of her legs. She looked up one more time, giving the woman a 'you're kidding, right?' look.

"Absolutely," Kai said, nodding furiously, answering the question rather than the look and holding out the dress for her to take, "And I'm sure your boyfriend is going to love it! Oh, I do hope that one day you two will be as happy as me and Ben! You're such a wonderful girl. Devlin deserves someone like you. And, don't tell your parents I said this, but you guys are so hot together."

"You do realize he's your adopted son, right?" the anodite reminded her, a small smile on her face as she took the article of clothing. She didn't need her powers to know that Kai wanted details on her and Kevin's relationship, details that she wasn't about to give. The native American truly was just a teenager trapped in the body of a 40-year-old woman. Things were getting way too intimate around here, and not just because they were standing right next to a rack of lingerie.

"Don't make it gross, honey," she said, giving the girl a tight smile, "Now, go try it on! Changing rooms are in the back!"

Giving her parallel cousin's wife a slightly amused, slightly disbelieving look, the young girl shrugged and started heading in the direction the woman pointed her in. Changing rooms? If nothing else, Ben 10,000 sure had picked one hell of a wife.

* * *

><p>"So, what do you guys think?" Kai asked, a smug smile on her face as she turned from the 16-year-old on the stage to everyone down on what would soon be the dance floor. It seemed to become even smugger as she assessed their expressions. The two adults were gapping at the stage, seeming unable to find words. After she had picked out the dress and reassured the teenage Jenny at least fifteen times that she looked perfect, the Native American had finally gotten the girl to agree, rather begrudgingly, to a makeover. The overall effect was stunning.<p>

The three kids were staring at her, along with the two teenage boys, their mouths wide open in shock.

Kevin's eyes traveled over the girl's curves and settled on her face, relaxing into a smug smile, almost mirroring the raven-haired woman's expression. He didn't gap like the others. Gwen looking beautiful was nothing new to him. To him, she was _always_ beautiful. The dress and make up just brought it out even more. He was feeling smug, of course, because he knew that the gorgeous girl standing up there was his. And nothing would change that. At least, not in their universe.

"You look…" the raven-haired teen trailed off.

"Let me guess," the red head smirked, stepping down from the stage carefully in her three-inch heels. How on Earth had Kai gotten her to wear those? "Hot? Sexy? Smokin'?"

"…beautiful," he finished and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in for a long, sweet kiss.

Like in a fairy tale, that seemed to break the spell.

"You did this…_to my daughter?_" the adult Gwen practically screeched, causing everyone – who wasn't too absorbed with his or her boyfriend/girlfriend's mouth at the moment – to cover their ears. She immediately turned on the couple. "On the night of my anniversary? And what did I say about you two making out?"

The teens' mouths disconnected promptly.

"If by this, you mean made her look stunning, then yes," the woman's in law answered, taking her hands away from her ears and blinking a couple of times from the sheer shock of the volume of her voice, and ignored the woman's last statement.

"Come on, Gwen, it could have been worse," her cousin tried to soothe her.

"Oh, really?" the red haired woman demanded, practically glowering at the adult couple, "Then enlighten me! How on Earth could anything be worse when my husband already can't stand Jenny's boyfriend, and your wife has dressed her up in something like that?"

"I could have dressed her up in something completely ridiculous, like that yellow dress your mother got me for my sixteenth," Kai bit back, weaving her arm through her husband's.

"Maybe you should stop talking about her like she's not here?" the 10-year-old Kenny suggested, pointing back at the teenage couple, who still had their arms around each other, and were surveying the scene.

"He's right," the teenage Ben agreed and smiled at his cousin, "You look great, Jen."

"Thank you," his cousin answered, smiling warmly back at him.

"I cannot wait for this future," Jenny stated, smiling approvingly as she crossed her arms on her chest.

"Same here," Devlin agreed, smirking at the couple and then exchanging a smile with his 'future girlfriend'.

"This isn't funny," the oldest anodite nearly growled at them all, "Edwin's stressed enough about this whole thing as it is, without our daughter looking like… like… like you!" She pointed an accusing finger at Kai, as if though the whole thing was her fault. Which, let's face it, it was entirely.

"He's not the only one who's stressed," the osmsoian murmured, earning a slight blow on the head from his girlfriend.

"Um, Aunt Gwen, I think you need to take a deep breath and calm down," the bearer of the Ultimaterix said, silently agreeing with his friend.

"Yeah, it's your anniversary, Mom," Jenny agreed, taking her mother's hand and guiding her to the nearest table, "And the party starts in two minutes. There's not enough time to change anything."

"Speaking of which, where the heck is Edwin?" Ben 10,000 demanded, frowning as he looked around the room, as if though expecting the man to be hiding somewhere behind the pots or under a table.

"He should be here by now," Kai agreed, and then sighed as she walked elegantly over to her husband's cousin, who seemed to be past the point of freaking out and entering hysteria. "Oh, there, there, Gwen. I'm sure the party won't be a total disaster." She patted her head affectionately while the woman glowered at her.

Just then, the door opened and revealed Edwin. He looked exactly like a younger version of his grandfather the last time the teens had seen him, only dressed in a tux.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized, closing the door and turning to the room, "_Somebody_ filled my shoes with sardines." The man made a face while the two younger boys snickered quietly. Jenny glared at them before turning back to her father, an apologetic look on her angelic face.

"Sorry, Dad," she said, "I got a spell wrong." He didn't need _another_ reason to hate Devlin. Couldn't those two morons get that through their thick heads?

"Oh," Edwin said, a surprised look on his face, "That's okay sweetheart. These things– what the hell are you wearing?" He had just noticed the teenage version of his daughter standing with her boyfriend, still wrapped in his embrace.

"Aunt Kai picked it out," she explained, her voice slightly defensive as she stepped away from the raven-haired teen.

"Jennifer Natalie Goldstein-"

"Dude!" the teenage Ben cut him off, putting his hands up and shaking his head to stop the man from saying anything else, "Can't you see that your wife is miserable? On her anniversary? Let Jenny worry about what she's wearing, Devlin worry about how many guys hit on her, and you worry about making sure Gwen's happy and that your daughter doesn't kill you for calling her that name again. Got it?"

"Uh, yes?" the blue-eyed man tried, frowning slightly. When had Kenny started acting this… bossy? The sudden outburst left the man shell-shocked. He was half expecting Ben to jump in and defend him, but, for once, it was clear by his defensive posture and disapproving eyes that the hero was completely on his son's side in this matter.

"Good," the young hero declared, "Now I think I can hear the crowd out there getting impatient. Show time, people!" He clapped his hands twice and headed over to the door. What on Earth was going on in the guy's head? Even Kevin had more of an idea of what he was doing than this idiot!

"A real chip off the old block isn't he?" Earth's greatest hero said to his wife proudly as she once again appeared at his side and slid her arm through his.

"Yes, dear," she confirmed, placing her other hand on his chin and turning his head around to hers and placing a soft, firm kiss on his mouth. "Exactly like you."

"Ugh, get a room," the teenage Gwen said to them, burying her head in her boyfriend's chest, having somehow found her way back into his arms sometime during her cousin's brief but very effective speech.

"You're one to talk," the adult version of said cousin muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Hey," Kenny interrupted the exchange, "Future Me is right. Aunt Gwen, Uncle Ed, go stand by the door and greet everyone."

He stalked over to table 7, where Jenny and Devlin had sat down. It was the table for kids that they would also be sharing with Gwendolyn, – if she showed up, – second cousin Bonnie, and cousin Lenny.

"You heard him," Edwin mumbled as his wife stood up. He took her arm and smiled softly. "You look beautiful. Just like our wedding night."

"Yeah," his wife agreed sarcastically, "I was freaking out about everything then, too."

He laughed and led her to the large, ornate door, where Ben 10,000, Kai, and the teenage Kenny were standing.

"Well, this oughtta be fun," the teenage Gwen mumbled as she and Kevin joined everyone at the door.

* * *

><p>Three hours into the party, Eunice was not fine. She had been spending the entire evening hiding behind potted plants and fat waiters and taking way more champagne than was necessary. The dance she had just had with Ken Tennyson had just been way too close. She hadn't bothered asking the man his name once he had asked her to dance, and it had been so sweet, after all. She had felt like Cinderella, finally meeting her Prince Charming, who had absolutely nothing to do with the Tennysons, or anyone else in her life. The red hair should have tipped her off enough! The maid mentally scolded herself for being so careless.<p>

She had been weaving through the crowd of dancers, trying desperately to avoid her employers or any of their relatives, and almost ran right into a conflict between the Lazy Housewife herself, Gwen Goldstein, and her more than annoying cousin, Sunny. Luckily, the blonde ducked behind a huge flowerpot just in time. Thank God for Gwen's love of yellow roses.

"…not that bad, Gwen," Sunny was saying, her dark purple dress enveloping her tall frame gracefully. Nothing much was different about her; she had the same waist-length, ebony-colored hair, the pale skin that for some reason most of the women in the Tennyson family seemed to have, and beautiful blue eyes. They were only a shade or two darker than Edwin's. "She does look stunning."

"If I'd have known you were gonna put up this much of an argument, I would have just locked those teens up in their rooms," Kai declared, waving her champagne glass in the air theatrically. It didn't take the maid-in-hiding long to figure out what was going on here. They were talking about the teenage Jenny and her dress again. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Gwen Goldstein might be a wonderful person, but she sure was a strict mother.

"Really, cuz," Sunny continued, sipping from a long-stemmed glass she held carefully in her long, thin fingers, "You need to be more flexible."

"I need to be more flexible?" the red head cried, completely outraged, "I think you two need to learn to be more responsible!"

"Come now, Gwendy," Kai said in a falsely soothing voice, stroking her in-law's arm slowly, "I've been raising two wonderful children practically on my own for the past thirteen years! And they've grown up very well."

"Kenny's only ten," Gwen reminded her.

"Whatever," the Native American said, shaking her head and glass simultaneously.

"And my Bonnie's a very good girl," the blue-eyed woman cut in, "She was only suspended once last semester."

"Ugh, why do I even bother talking to you two?" the anodite said in a resigned voice, shaking her head.

Suddenly, a blue alien with scales in a dark green satin dress appeared at the dark-skinned woman's side and whispered something in her ear. Eunice recognized her to be Anita, Kai's spy. Obviously the woman, almost twice her 'friend's' age, had been gathering information for the past hour.

"Because I can get the inside scoop for you," the brunette announced, answering her in-law's question once Anita was gone. The two cousins turned to her, curiosity burning in their eyes, unintended in Gwen's case. She was against gossip entirely, but, well, when the opportunity arose…

"So, what is it?" Sunny asked as they all crowded closer together, talking in hushed voices so that no one would overhear them, save for the maid hiding not two feet away.

"There's been some speculation about Devlin," Kai said, almost casually, "Some are wondering how on Earth you could've let your daughter go out with him, others are focusing on Ben's part in this whole thing about his adoption, and – and this is the majority – others are making up crazy stories, like how the teens escaped back in time to avoid having to deal with yours and Edwin's judgment on their love, or they ran away because Jenny's pregnant."

"Great," Gwen groaned, holding her hand to her forehead, "As if though everything wasn't bad enough."

"On the bright side," Kai continued, this time louder than before, "they all agree that the champagne is absolutely wonderful!" The woman looked at her glass approvingly.

"Well, at least-" But the rest of the red head's words were stifled by the blonde's gasp. A large hand had just clamped down on her shoulder. She turned back sharply, fear evident in her green eyes, and they met the blazing furious ones of Ben 10,000.

"How about you and I go dance?" he suggested, his voice hard, and started towing her, while she was still mid-crouch, to the dance floor. When they were well hidden from the three women's view by the surrounding couples, the man let out a long, deep breath.

"Eunice!" he whisper-snapped, just in case there were any more of his wife's spies around, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have come," the maid whimpered, looking away towards a large, fat man with purple skin that was dancing with a very tall light green alien woman who was so skinny that her limbs poked out.

"You're damn right," her employer agreed, "If Gwen finds out someone who wasn't on the list got in, I am so dead."

A small, slightly amused smile spread across the blonde's mouth.

"Actually, I was thinking more about how I'm a maid and I really shouldn't interfere with personal affairs of my employers," she reminded him as they twirled around on the dance floor.

"Well, yeah, that too," he grumbled, "How did you get in, anyway?"

"Security's pretty loose around the servants' entrance," she admitted with a shrug.

"The servants' entrance!" the man cried, shaking his head, "I knew I was forgetting something! And, where did you get the dress? It looks great on you, by the way."

"Thank you," she mumbled and blushed, turning her head away once more. She sighed and turned her head around, a more determined look in her beautiful eyes. "Listen, please don't punish the boys for this. They were only trying to help and-"

"Kenny and Devlin did this?" the hero cried, his eyebrows lifting and then furrowing back down, "Why am I not surprised?"

"Well, the 16-year-old versions of them did," the blonde corrected him, "They were only being nice."

"Somehow I sincerely doubt that," the man sighed and started leading their dance towards the door by the stage, "Come on, let's get you out of here before someone sees you."

* * *

><p>Three hours into the party, everyone was either dancing or sitting at their tables, laughing. Kenny was sitting at the kids' table with cousins Bonnie and Lenny, trying not to die of boredom. His bright green eyes strayed over the dance floor, past his father and Eunice, who had their arms around each other, dancing, past the sixteen year old version of himself, who was surrounded by a crowd of admirers, all asking about the Ultimaterix. He'd have to remember to ask Azmuth if he could have one for his sixteenth. If he couldn't, then it would raise way too much suspicion from his friends, and who wanted that, right?<p>

Wait a second!

The young hero's all-seeing eyes scanned the room and once again landed on his father, who was dancing with- EUNICE! What was she doing here? Did dad invite her? Mom would totally freak out if she saw her here. Or was this just another prank planned by the oh-so-awesome versions of his and Devlin's dads? If so, it was pretty lame. Either way, nothing would stop the 10-year-old from finding out what was going on.

"Kenny will settle this!" the lord of geeks, Lenny, announced, bringing Kenny back to reality, just as he had been about to get out of his chair, "Which alien is cooler? Four Arms, or Xlr8?"

"Um, both," the 10-year-old stated quickly, "Now, if you guys'll excuse me, I've got some undercover, super-secret, son-of-Earth's-greatest-hero stuff to do."

* * *

><p>Three hours into the party, the 16-year-old Gwen had already gotten hit on by three guys, and had to restrain her boyfriend five times. She was now keeping him busy on the dance floor. Jenny was there, too, with Devlin, trying to assure him that no one was staring, even though that was exactly what everyone was doing. No one said a word, though. They didn't want to upset the Tennysons, or the Goldsteins, and get thrown out of the party. It was, after all, the social event of the year.<p>

Ben and Kai never threw big parties like this one to celebrate their anniversary. They always went someplace special and secluded. One year, the press had actually issued a scavenger hunt to find them. That was quickly cancelled as soon as they heard from Gwen Tennyson herself, who moonlighted as a lawyer. Life sure was easy with an over-achieving, weapon-wielding, magic-using anodite for a cousin.

The 16-year-old version of the miraculous woman was on the dance floor, being spun around in a circle by the man she loved. Both teens were trying to focus on not drawing too much attention to themselves, which was proving very difficult indeed. They were the teen versions of two of the most famous children in the world, and this was bound to raise some questions. At the door alone, they had gotten some stares, especially when it was announced that the two were a couple. But, one look from the adult Gwen was enough to tell the guests to keep their mouths shut. And, if that didn't work, Ben 10,000 seemed to have a new catchphrase for the night. The man would stand by his cousin, arms crossed on his chest and say to the alien and/or human, "That's right. You've got a problem with that?" That was enough to cause him, or, more often than not, her, to scamper off into the crowd. It wasn't enough to stop the gossip, though. However, at the moment, the two teens were a little too distracted by what was happening to their companions to pay any attention to Kai's spies, or the green-skinned woman who could not stop gawking and muttering to her dance partner how 'unbelievable it is that someone as sweet as Jenny Goldstein could get together with someone as uneducated and horrible as that ruffian Devlin Levin'. Or, at least Gwen was.

"Somehow I don't think the parallel me is going to have a very good time tonight," she said to Kevin, frowning over his shoulder at where the adult version of herself was standing, arguing with Kai and Sunny. Only, the two other women, the latter dressed in a beautiful purple silk gown, were holding glasses of champagne and seemed genuinely relaxed, while the red head was sulking and yelling in undertones.

"Can you blame her?" the 17-year-old scoffed, looking back over his shoulder at the three women, "Her cousin-in-law dressed up her daughter in some ridiculously 'grown-up'"- she could just hear the air quotes around the word – "dress, and her husband is so freaked out about who she's going out with that he doesn't even try to pay attention to her." He looked back over the top of his girlfriend's head to where Edwin was standing on the other side of the room with a waiter with blond hair, drinking glass after glass of champagne.

"Is that Cooper?" the green-eyed girl asked, looking back over her shoulder to see the two men for herself.

"No way," the osmosian said, more in amazement than actual denial, his dark eyes widening. "Well, that explains why he doesn't stop giving him drinks."

"Excuse me?" the anodite inquired, turning back around to face him, eyes wide, just daring him to say the wrong thing.

"You look so hot in that dress," he said promptly, changing the subject. It had the desired effect – the girl's face relaxed into a sly smile.

"That's what I thought you said," she affirmed, laying her head on the raven-haired teen's shoulder as the music changed into a slow dance, causing all the chattering couples around them to lower their voices, although the gossip was still in full swing. At that moment, the green-skinned woman whirled past them again with her dance-impaired husband, a short, chubby bald man with purple skin.

"…and how on Earth her father is still in one piece I'll never know," she stage-whispered, "That girl honestly has _no_ idea what kind of man…" Kevin tensed. Gwen noticed and raised her eyes to focus on her boyfriend's pale, well-sculpted face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her green eyes anxious.

"It's nothing," the 17-year-old assured his beloved girlfriend.

"Kevin," the red head said pleadingly, raising the hand that had been resting on his shoulder to cup the teen's chin and keep him from turning away from her. The black-eyed teen only had time to give a heavy sigh before his defenses crumbled and he gave in.

"It's just that, well, with all these rumors…"

"Yeah?" the girl urged.

"It just kinda makes you wonder, you know?" he admitted, shrugging his large, masculine shoulders once, "About what kinda guy I was here. What I could have done to earn such a bad rep."

"Your reputation still goes beyond bad in or world," the 16-year-old reminded her boyfriend sternly, "Whatever you did here can't be much worse."

"Gee, thanks, Gwen," the osmosian said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "That makes me feel so much better."

"Sorry," the red head said with a weak smile, "All I'm saying is, it doesn't matter what you did. Here, or anywhere else. You know that you'll always have people that care about you, that will understand. That's all that matters."

Kevin smiled at her, a real smile, the kind of smile that usually only appeared on his face when he lost faith in himself, and Gwen, as if by magic, restored it. She smiled back and closed her eyes, leaning up on her toes to meet his lips. He leaned down to press his against hers, but, just before he did, he caught the eyes of his parallel son. The expression on Devlin's face was a mixture of confusion, but at the same time understanding, but, most of all, worry. Kevin gave the boy a cocky smirk, before turning back to his beloved red head. He didn't get a chance to see the slightly relieved smile on the 10-year-old's mouth as he turned back to Jenny.

"What are you smiling about?" the younger red head asked her dance partner, smiling softly. Her eyes were calm, the polar opposite of both her parents' anxious glares.

"Oh, nothing much," the boy assured her, "I'm the centre of attention of a bunch of gossiping nitwits' conversations, your dad hates me, and the punch the waiters are handing out sucks. Why wouldn't I be happy?" He was being sarcastic, but the boy's sky-blue eyes were laughing.

"Um, that wasn't punch," the girl said, her eyes slightly worried, "That was champagne. We weren't supposed to drink it."

"What?" Devlin's eyes widened in shock, but quickly went back to relaxed in a matter of moments. "Oh, well." He shrugged, trying to get back to the dance, but Jenny stopped and pulled away.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked, now really worried.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," he assured her, "Alcohol has no effect on my dad, so I figure it doesn't affect me either."

"Oh," the red head said with a sigh of relief and the pair went back to dancing.

"So, you really have to go through this whole thing every year?" Devlin asked her after a moment. "How do you handle it?"

"I try and stay out of Mom and Dad's way until the party's over," Jenny answered with a shrug, "It's not really that hard. Great-grandpa Max lets me hide out in the basement as long as I help him with some of the engineer work."

"You? Engineer work?" Devlin scoffed, barely keeping himself from falling into hysterical laughter.

"Hey!" she snapped and swatted him on the shoulder, "Just because I'm a girl I can't do mechanics?"

"No, it's just that… well…"

"Well, what?"

"Well, you don't really seem like the kind of girl – I mean person – who prefers spending your Saturday nights working on cars," he explained with a slight shrug.

"You mean, not like Kevin," Jenny stated simply, her expression softening.

"Definitely not like dad," Devlin agreed with a relieved smile. The way he said 'dad' made it clear just who he was thinking of, and that it wasn't the monster that was still happily locked up in the Null Void. Jenny's eyes softened even more.

"What was it that made you look so anxious just a few seconds ago?" she asked, treading carefully. The young anodite did not want to get into another fight.

"Nothing important," Devlin assured her, a sad smile on his mouth. Just then, as if though fate had decided to play 'How Many Times Can Jenny Guess Devlin's Lying', the green woman danced by with her partner again.

"And don't even get me started on his father," she exclaimed, tossing her head from side to side. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, you know. How Ben 10,000 could've ever let that boy into his house…"

"You were worried about the gossipers," Jenny guessed, "And the effect that might have on your dad."

"Yeah," the blue-eyed boy admitted, "He became the way he did because of what everyone thought about his powers. I didn't want the same thing to happen to him in that universe again."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Jenny promised with a light laugh, "Mom's a good enough distraction from any rumors."

"I hope you're right," Devlin smiled.

Just at that moment, Kenny appeared, pushing through the dancing couples to get to his cousin and adopted brother. There was an anxious expression on the boy's face, one that promptly made the pair stop paying attention to the music.

"Kenny?" the red head cried, her eyebrows furrowed, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, man, you look like you've seen a ghost," Devlin agreed, "What's up?"

"Did you guys know Eunice is here?" the brunette boy demanded.

"Eunice?" Jenny repeated incredulously, "As in, your mom's maid, Eunice?"

"As in, the Eunice whose kitchen we trash nearly every other day?" Devlin added unnecessarily, "See, I told you he was setting them up!"

"What is she doing here?" Jenny asked her cousin before turning to face her 'future boyfriend' incredulously, 'And what are you talking about?"

"Before the party started Kenny and I ran into the teen versions of-"

"Guys!" Kenny interrupted, "Can we focus on what's important? I don't know what she's doing here, and, Devlin, where's Kevin?"

"Right here," the osmosian's voice sounded directly above the boy's head. The three kids turned around to see him and his date frowning down at them. "What's going on?"

"Eunice is here," the green-eyed 10-year-old answered, "And my mom is going to freak out if she finds out!"

"You brought Eunice here?" the older anodite nearly screeched, remembering at the last moment to keep her voice down.

"Well, not brought, as in I opened the door for her…" the raven-haired teen defended, holding his hands, palms up in front of him in surrender.

"Oh, really?" the red head snapped, "Then how much part in this did you actually have, Kevin?"

"Sssshhh!" Jenny hissed, "Do you want everyone to find out who he really is?"

Gwen didn't answer. She faced her boyfriend, hands on her hips.

"Devlin…" she trailed off menacingly.

"I handed her the dress," the 17-year-old confessed miserably.

"Terrific," the anodite muttered, holding her head in her hand for a short moment. "Alright, you three go find Eunice and try to sneak her out the back door. I'll go get 'Kenny' and give him a piece of my mind." And with that, the 16-year-old girl grabbed her boyfriend's wrist and dragged him off into the crowd.

"Jeez, your mom is scary," Kenny declared, his green eyes wide as he directed the statement at his cousin.

"Maybe," Jenny agreed begrudgingly, "but I don't think we'll have time to follow orders."

"And why's that?" Devlin asked her, his blue eyes narrowed. Jenny was staring at a spot in the distance above his left shoulder with the barest hint of fear in her eyes.

"That," she pointed a trembling hand in the direction she'd been staring at.

Above the main door that the guests had used as an entry point, a large window let the pale moonlight into the room. Stars were sprinkled against the deep dark blue of the night's sky outside, making anyone who would have taken the time to look at them want to go up in space. There were three more windows like this one placed on either side of it, and, in one of those windows, the second from the right, stood a person. She was holding onto the frame to keep her balance, her long hair billowing behind her. No one would have noticed unless they were looking directly at her, but, once they did, they would have been faced with a terrifying picture.

"Charmcaster," Jenny murmured softly.

As if though the soft sound that had just barely spilled out of the child's lips had triggered some magic spell, storm clouds rolled in, and a tempest began. The guests looked up at the windows, annoyed at first. Now they would have to go home in the rain and risked getting all their lovely designer clothes wet. Then, they noticed the figure.

Murmurs started in the crowd, much like ripples in a pond. Somewhere near the servants' entrance, Ben 10,000 cursed himself as he ushered his maid inside. He had checked security. This shouldn't have happened. For the first time all night, total and complete silence enveloped the room.

Then, the lightning struck.

"AAAAHHH!" screams could be heard all around as everyone ducked for cover as the broken glass rained down on them. Devlin promptly took on his monster form and covered Jenny from the glass as best as he could. Kevin pushed Gwen down on the floor on her back, absorbing the hardwood and covering them both. He winced as little bits of glass got buried in his back.

Within moments, the whole place was in chaos. Everyone was screaming, complaining about bleeding and cursing about how this same thing happened every year and they didn't know why they even came to these parties anyway. The furniture got knocked over as gusts of wind blew through the gapping windows, rainwater soaking everything in sight.

A soft thud sounded, followed quickly by another, lighter one. Both were muffled by the vast chaos in the room, though. The intruders were female, but one was 12, and the other nearing 50. The older one had long, silver hair, which hung like a lion's mane, down to her waist, sparkling violet eyes, and slightly tanned skin. Her face was enveloped by white and lilac designs, and a black tiara was placed on her head. A deep purple cape fell down her back, exposing a pair of lilac boots, black, skin-tight pants, and a black-and-magenta long-sleeved sweater, the sleeves wide. Her nails were painted a glistening red and filed into points, so that it looked like the woman had drops of blood where her fingernails should have been. In one hand she held a long scepter.

The girl had untidy shoulder-length hair, worn down, and the same features as her mother, only her eyes were wild, desperately waiting for a fight. The girl was wearing a smaller version of Charmcaster's outfit when she had been 15. A bag was slung across her shoulder.

Charmcaster banged her scepter against the ground once. The earth began to quake and the beautiful floor of the ballroom started crumbling, like some massive creature was crawling underneath it. Everyone fell back to their knees, their attention turned on the two party crashers. Satisfied, the older witch let her gaze roam her surroundings.

"Gwenny!" she called out in a sing-song voice, "Where are you?"

"I'm right here, Charmcaster," the red haired woman answered, standing up and brushing herself off, panting slightly. She had several small cuts on her body from the glass. Slowly, her cousin, his wife, the three kids, and the teenagers did the same. Most of them were injured, but just barely.

"Aw," the woman's long-time enemy pouted, "And it looks like I ruined not only your party, but your dress, too." She was right, too. There were smudges of dirt and small rips covering the once-beautiful velvet dress.

"I don't think you should be complaining about others' fashion choices," Kai advised her, hands planted firmly on her hips, "That's Gwen's job."

"Hey, I'm not the one who dressed up my God-daughter in a ridiculous dress," the older Gwen's eyes narrowed to slits at her in-law.

"Oh, you cannot still be mad about that!" the Native American exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air.

"For once, I'm actually with Gwen on this one," Kevin interrupted.

"Really?" his girlfriend asked skeptically, once again, daring him to upset her, "And here I thought you liked this dress."

"Don't get me wrong, you look smoking hot," the osmosian quickly backtracked – cue Kai giving her rival a smug smirk – "but if one more guy hits on you, I'm gonna beat the hell outta him."

The red head's expression softened slightly.

"Hey!" Allura yelled out, her hands on her hips, waiting impatiently, "If I wanted to watch romantic movies, I would have stayed home. Can we get to the part where we beat you guys up already?"

"No problem. Only we'll be the ones beating _you_ up!" Kenny answered, hitting the dial of him Omnitrix. "Xlr8!"

"Oh, Tennyson," Allura chuckled, raising a handful of stone eggs, "You make this too easy."

"Now I see why you like her," Devlin announced as Xlr8 grabbed him and Jenny and sped out of the way of five rock monsters.

"You know, you picked a hell of a day to attack my family, Charmcaster," Ben 10,000 announced, Omnitrix in place, turning all his attention to the witch. At the same time her daughter had thrown the eggs, the older witch had thrown a huge energy blast at the adults and teens. "Haven't you heard? We've got even more power on or side, now that Devlin's joined us. Not to mention the teen versions of the kids. They were generous enough to come back in time and make beating you that much easier."

"Oh, but, Ben, that's exactly why I'm here," Charmcaster chuckled, raising her hand up in the air. It immediately ignited with manna. "To give the kids a work out!" A beam of manna was promptly shot out at the red headed woman's head, missing her by centimeters. The lightning outside flashed.

"How does she manipulate the weather?" the teenage Ben asked, as his cousin gathered manna up into her own palms.

"Seriously?" Kevin snapped, glaring at his friend, "We're getting attacked by a witch who's tried to kill us about a million times, and that's what you're worried about?"

The witch smirked as she flew up into the air and spun around, balls of light flying everywhere, each one with a target from the Tennyson family. Ben 10,000 started charging up to the insane woman, his hand paused above the Omnitrix.

"Four Arms!" he cried at the same time as the 16-year-old him yelled out: "Humungousaur!" Instead of the dinosaur-like alien, he changed into Rath.

"Rath?" the teen hero asked in disappointment, "Can't this thing ever work right? Let me tell you something, Ultimaterix! No one messes with Be- I mean, Kenny Tennyson! 'Cause if you mess with me, ugh- you don't wanna mess with me!"

"Great, now, if you're done yelling at your watch," Kevin growled, absorbing the floor again while his beloved girlfriend was holding up a shield to protect them from her old enemy's blasts, "Let's go kick some butt!"

"No, Kevin!" the anodite gasped, the strain of keeping up her shield getting to her, "We have to get everyone out of here! Thos blasts Charmcaster's throwing? They're lethal. If they hit someone, they're as good as dead."

"Fine," the osmosian gave in with an overly theatric sigh.

Suddenly, the adult Gwen was thrown across the room, hitting the wall with such a heavy impact that her back left an imprint. She fell to the floor in a red-and-blue heap, her hair coming undone and falling indignantly around her porcelain-like face.

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked, moving to help the woman get back on her feet but stopping at just the last moment.

"I'm fine," she growled, unmasked hatred in her sapphire green eyes, "Jenny, Devlin, get everyone out of here. Kenny, go help the kids with Allura."

"Let me tell you something, Gwen Goldstein!" Rath yelled, "No one tells Rath what to do! Because Rath-"

"Just do it!" she shouted, throwing a well-aimed blast at the witch, hitting her square in the chest and sending her tumbling back to the furthest wall. Rath ran away in the direction of the three kids, where they were battling it out with Charmcaster's daughter.

"How do we get these people out of here?" Kevin asked his girlfriend, motioning to the crowd gathered around the sidelines.

"No clue," the red head answered, ducking out of the way of a flying piece of wall, "Especially since about half of them are journalists."

* * *

><p>The fight lasted about an hour more, and ended, as most fights did, with the police finally showing up and taking Charmcaster back to jail, and Allura back to the juvenile detention centre. The teenage Gwen and Kevin had safely gotten everyone out by Gwen covering them and Kevin threatening everyone that if they didn't get a move on, he would go alien and, well, that pretty much did it.<p>

After Charmcaster got pushed into the wall for the umpteenth time, Kai had finally gotten tired of all this nonsense. She reached into her knee-length boot and pulled out a small ray gun – small, but very powerful – and slowly stepped forward, dodging her husband and his cousin's blows. She finally got close enough to the already out of breath witch and pressed the point into the small of her back. The cape she'd worn lay discarded on the floor a few feet away in a large purple pile.

"Listen here, honey," Kai said in a sugar-sweet voice, "This night really meant a lot to most of us, and I kinda promised Gwendy that nothing would go wrong this year. Of course, it's a little late for that, what with Devlin dating Jenny in the future, the caterers bringing sushi instead of shrimp, and the florists bringing orchids instead of roses. But, while all those little disasters could be dealt with, I swear by all that is sacred and pure, you are truly the worst thing that could have happened tonight."

"That's enough, ma'am," one of the officers who had pulled up just outside announced, stepping in between the two women and handcuffing the older of the two, "We'll take it from here."

"Let me go!" Allura cried, fighting as hard as she could against the two policemen dragging her out of the ballroom.

"Better luck next time, witch!" Kenny laughed and called after her. The silver-haired young girl glared up at him and smiled a sickly sweet, obviously fake smile.

"Count on it, hero!" she called back, "See you next week!"

By that time the cops had already dragged the two witches kicking and screaming to the hovercrafts. The men had yellow, scaly skin and tentacles on their faces, like Vilgax, only shorter. Their uniforms were standard Plumber uniforms.

"We're sorry about your party, Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein," the officer in charge stated, "Honestly, the security of this place is amazing. I have no idea how they got past it."

"It's quite alright," Edwin stated, "Now, officer, if you don't mind, I think we'd all feel safer if you got those two witches out of here."

"Of course," the man answered and turned back to the hovercraft. After a moment's hesitation, he turned back to the couple. "And happy anniversary."

"Thank you," Gwen said, smiling at him, barely keeping her frustration from coming to the surface.

"Yeah, Frank, thanks," Ben 10,000 said, coming around to give the man his most charming smile. Frank nodded once, briskly before getting onto the hovercraft and flying off, back to their work stations. After they disappeared from view, Earth's greatest hero directed all his attention to his cousin. "Are you okay, Gwen? It looks like she got you pretty bad."

"I'll be fine," the red head promised. She was _this close_ to bursting into tears. Her party, that she had worked so hard on for so long, that everyone had been waiting for practically all year, was ruined! How could she not be upset? Honestly, she didn't need all this stress right now…

"Kids, I think you better get to bed," Kai said to the small crowd that was her family, who were all gathered on what passed as a small porch, but was actually more like a balcony, in front of the house. She wrapped her arm around her anodite cousin-in-law's shoulders in a comforting embrace. "Aunt Gwen's going to throw a hissy fit about her party being ruined, and no one wants to be around that. Be glad you don't have to."

"Gee, thanks, Kai," the adult Gwen rolled her eyes, sniffing, trying to keep the tears from escaping fruitlessly.

"Any time, sweetie," the wife of Earth's greatest hero promised and squeezed her shoulders, rubbing her arm softly.

"Seriously, though, kids, get to bed," Ben 10,000 agreed, "It's been a long night."

"Yes," Edwin stated, his beedy eyes closing in on the couple he still believed to be his teenage daughter and her boyfriend, "And when we say 'bed' we mean separate beds in separate rooms. Devlin, I don't want you sleeping anywhere near my daughter."

"Will do, sir," Devlin smirked and Jenny giggled, "Our rooms are, after all, on different floors."

"Um, yeah, guys, let's go before Uncle Ed decides to push Devlin off the balcony," Kenny suggested, half pushing, half pulling his friends with him to go inside. He didn't miss the murderous look the raven-haired man granted his, for all intents and purposes, brother, or the way Kevin's eyes flashed or his arms tightened around his beloved red head at the man's words.

"Well, I guess we could use some sleep," the younger Gwen said through a yawn, her eyes half-lidded. Clearly, her osmosian was the only thing keeping her from crumpling into a heap on the floor. Seeming to realize this, the 17-year-old gracefully lifted the girl up in his arms, bridal style, in one quick motion. She immediately snuggled up into his massive chest, settling herself for a long night's sleep. There was no doubt that Edwin's warning would not be heeded.

"You heard the lady," Kevin said brightly, "Everyone, get to bed!"

The kids didn't need to be told twice. Kenny was anxious to get out of the unbelievably ugly tux, and so literally ran right down the hall, after shouting a quick "G'night!" to everyone.

The others set down the corridor at a more leisurely pace, the two other kids being too exhausted to run, and Kevin not wanting to awake his sleeping girlfriend. The bearer of the Ultimaterix, however, stayed behind. He turned to the four adults and smiled at the adult version of his cousin sadly.

"I'm really sorry about your party, Aunt Gwen." The teen felt no need to express sympathy to the anodite's narrow-minded husband, thanks to the rather unfair way the man treated his best friend. "But isn't it still your anniversary? Maybe you guys should go out and do something, you know, special. Like, just the two of you. Celebrations don't always have to be fancy. They just have to be with the people you care about, right?"

"That's actually a terrific idea, Kenny," Kai said approvingly, her chocolate brown eyes shining brightly.

"Yeah, except that every place that would be acceptable is closed," Edwin all but growled, "Where would we go this time of night?"

"You know, it's not night in Europe," Ben 10,000 cut in, "You guys could just go sight-seeing or something."

"It might not be so bad…" the red headed woman trailed off, actually considering the idea.

"Are you serious?" her husband exclaimed, "We are _not_ going to go hiking around the world for our anniversary!"

"And why not, exactly?" Gwen shot back, all trace of sadness gone. She was back to her usual, domineering self. "The party might be ruined, but that doesn't mean our anniversary has to be."

"Because… because…"

"Why? Give me one good reason!" the anodite's voice was now at a pitch where only cats and dogs could hear it.

"Because every year we throw a party, and nothing else!" the man bellowed, "If we did something else now, we'd be breaking tradition, and I won't have that!"

There was a moment of silence as Edwin stood there, panting for breath, and his words sunk in. After all that the night had brought, after all that the past years of ruined parties had brought, how could Edwin, of all people, say that he didn't want to 'break tradition'? This would be a way of saving one of the most special days of the year and making the woman he loved happy. Either the man was too stubborn to see why taking this trip was a good idea, or he was too stubborn to see the fact that he wasn't good enough for Gwen. This fact seemed to be so blatantly obvious to everyone except the woman herself.

"Dude," the 16-year-old finally broke the silence, holding his hands up in surrender and slowly starting to step past the adults to get to the gapping hallway the kids had gone through, "You have got to be the most selfish, self-centered man on the planet."

And with that, he left the four adults out in the night.

* * *

><p>In the hallway, the two kids, teen, and sleeping teen were making slow progress. None of them, however, said a word. Their brains seemed to have stopped working, as none of them remembered that, just by shouting their room code, they would get there in a matter of moments. Finally, Jenny broke the silence.<p>

"You know, there's something that's been bothering me," she announced, frowning at the metal floor.

"Hmm?" Kevin probed, not daring to make any more noise.

"Where were they taking them?" the young girl mused, "Charmcaster and Allura, I mean. Shouldn't they have been sent to the Null Void?"

"Charmcaster will be," Devlin told her promptly, if not a little bitterly, "Right now they need some information from her about her uncle or the place where she's from, or something like that. Dad told me that sometimes, when the police force don't know enough about the planet a criminal is from, they interrogate him until they get everything they need. And then they send him or her to the Null Void. The Null Void would be too harsh for Allura. She couldn't survive there. So, she's being sent to Juvy, a place for juvenile delinquents." His eyes momentarily strayed to regard Kevin, who suddenly found the walls very interesting.

"They're gonna separate them?" the red head exclaimed, "That's just wrong! I mean, I know they're criminals, but you should never separate parents from their kids."

"Yeah, but somehow I don't think living in the Null Void's any better," the blue-eyed boy smirked, earning an eye-roll from Jenny.

"Look at it this way," the osmosian suggested, "Charmcaster's an all-powerful witch, and Allura's her evil little daughter. The two of them could take on the entire police force at full power. They'll be out of there by tomorrow afternoon."

Suddenly, the three heard quick footsteps behind them. Ben. They all slowed to wait for him to catch up. The teen hero reached them with a huff and a frown on his face.

"What's got you upset this time, princess?" Kevin smirked, rolling his eyes at his friend's theatrics.

"Nothing much," the 16-year-old answered, the deep frown on his face never wavering, "But, Kevin? Can you promise me something?"

"What, Tennyson?" the mechanic said with a sigh. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that no matter what his green-eyed friend had in mind, it had to be something stupid. Like, maybe that as soon as they got back home he'd take them to Mr. Smoothie's, or let him borrow the Camaro because his car was broken, in which case Kevin would have to spend next Saturday night in the garage fixing it. Or maybe-

"Promise that you'll marry Gwen some day."

"WHAT?" The osmosian promptly dropped the young woman in surprise. The idiot couldn't possible be dumb enough to ask that, could he?

"Dude!" Devlin jumped as Jenny quickly sent a pink platform to keep the 16-year-old version of her mother from hitting the cold, hard floor.

"Ugh," the red head awoke with a groan, sitting up and pressing a hand to her forehead, "Where am I? What happened?"

"Your cousin's just being his usual dumb-ass self," her boyfriend answered, scooping her back up in his arms, "Go back to sleep."

"Actually, I feel fine now," she answered, attempting to climb out of his embrace.

"Figures," the dumb-ass cousin in question smiled, "You sleep about two hours a day. No wonder you feel rested after a few minutes sleep."

"Yeah, no wonder," Kevin agreed, setting the anodite down gently. The two kids stood by, watching patiently, waiting for what would happen next. They doubted that either of the teens would let go of what Ben had just said.

They didn't have much time to think, though. Suddenly, a piercing shriek sounded from a few ways away.

"What was that?" Jenny asked at the same time that Ben said, "Let's go!"

Without further ado, the young heroes set off running down the hall, their previous tiredness forgotten. After several twists and turns, they finally reached the living room doorway, where, facing away from them, was Kenny. He was leaning against the wall, gasping for air.

"Kenny?" Devlin said uncertainly. The fingers that grasped the metal for support were withered and old, the hair brittle and graying, but the tux was definitely Kenny's, and so was the Omnitrix on his wrist. "Dude, are you okay?"

At that moment, the boy's legs gave out and he plummeted face-first onto the floor.

"Kenny!" Jenny exclaimed, and both kids hurried over to help the 10-year-old. He rolled over onto his back. The pair gave a collective gasp, seeing the old skin stretched out over the bone, the obvious weakness on his face. He looked like Gwendolyn had when they'd first found her yesterday.

The three teens hung back, though. They'd known what had happened from the moment they saw the boy leaning against the wall. With narrowed eyes, Ben stepped forward into the room, his stance signaling that he was ready to fight.

"You can come out, now," he said to the empty room, "We all know you're here. Come out and fight, Darkstar."

A loud whooshing sound was heard, and a dark shape fell to the floor from the ceiling. It landed in a crouch and slowly stood p to reveal a man in a metal mask, dressed all in black, not a hint of his skin uncovered. He chuckled at the scene before him.

"Nice to see you too, Ben," Darkstar stated, "Kevin, and, of course, the lovely Gwen."

* * *

><p>AN: MUST READ! I want to say how deeply sorry I am to everyone that this update took so long. Thank you to all of the amazing reviewers. Virtual hugs and cookies for all of you! I know that doesn't really help, but I promise I'll be updating my stories more often. (In answer to your question, Anon, I'm not really sure. Whenever I have inspiration, I write. I used to update once a week, but I'm pretty sure that ship has sailed. Thanks so much for your review! I'm glad you liked the story :D) Also, just to give you guys a heads up, I know that Darkstar has supposedly lost his mask in Ledgerdomain, but this story will be taking place before that episode. If you have not read this author's note, and you have seen all the latest episodes, the next chapter isn't going to make much sense.

R&R please! :D


	14. Chapter 14

"Who the heck is this freak?" Devlin snapped, his hands curling up into rigid fists at his sides.

"Darkstar," Kevin bit out, pressing his hand against the wall behind him and absorbing the metal, "Energy-absorbing vampire who follows us everywhere and wants to kill us and steal Gwen's energy."

"Quite right, Levin," Michael stated and started pacing back and forth, as if the fact that two osmosians, two anodites, and a teen with an Ultimaterix stood at the ready to launch an attack on him was no big thing. "And you forgot to mention the part where I saved your life at Lovely Gwen's request." The way he said it made the words sound like a title. Gwen shuddered as she was suddenly hit with a memory of Kevin in his ultimate form calling her that. She shook her head to clear it and focus on the present.

"Let me guess," said Jenny, rolling her azure eyes and bringing the older red head out of her thoughts, "Mom's old boyfriend."

"Let me guess," the criminal shot back, stopping his pacing and focusing solely on the little 10-year-old girl, "Gwendolyn's daughter…" His eyes flitted to hers and then back to the osmosian. "…but not Levin's. How painful that must be for you. Seeing the girl you love with another man, forced to hide under a mask, disguised as your own son, who, once again, isn't hers, while celebrating their anniversary. Knowing your track record, Levin, I'm surprised you haven't caused a scene." He began his pacing again. "Then again, you are a wanted criminal here. I imagine there'd be quite a reward put on your head. Evidently, even Gwen doesn't come before your freedom, does she?"

Just as the 17-year-old opened his mouth to retort, his girlfriend held out a hand to stop him from doing anything he might (not) regret.

"Enough chit chat, Darkstar," Ben snapped, knowing how the villain loved to make his prey, or in this case, Kevin, squirm, "What are you doing here?"

"A very good question, _Benji_," the man scowled, "You see, lovely Gwen and I made a deal-"

"You did what?" Kevin immediately rounded up on his beloved anodite, cutting off the villain's impending monologue. What hadn't Gwen told him?

"Can we talk about this later?" the 16-year-old snapped at him, not taking her eyes off the man in front of them, "Maybe when we're not about to be attacked by one of our old enemies?"

"We get attacked by someone every day, Gwen," her boyfriend pointed out, his stance defensive, "No time like the present."

"If you two would kindly let me finish explaining, I would gladly tell you exactly what she did, you imbecile," the black-clad man growled, and a very sulky-looking Kevin turned back to him, "The deal was one year's worth of energy for your life, Levin, and-"

"Hang on a sec," Devlin interrupted, "You tried to kill Kevin Levin? Dude, you'd have better luck splitting up Jenny's mom and dad. Speaking of, no offense, Jenny, but your mom has the worst taste in boyfriends." Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Hey!" both Kevin and Gwen shouted at the same time.

"No offense intended," Devlin repeated, looking at the pair apologetically, hands raised in surrender.

"Like father, like son, huh, Kev?" the bearer of the Ultimaterix smirked at his best friend. The young boy's pointless side-conversation reminded him so much of the 17-year-old that it was almost easy to forget their current situation.

"Would you let me finish talking?" the energy-absorbing vampire yelled out, all but stomping his foot on the ground like an ignorant, spoiled little brat.  
>"No, we're just gonna kick your butt," Devlin told him. There was the sound of fabric tearing as Devlin changed into the mutated form his father had first gained when first absorbing the Omnitrix. His skin rippled and bones grew. To anyone else this may have cased excruciating pain and effort, but not Devlin Levin. He'd been trained at an early age to fight pain, and it, as usual, took little to no effort for the little trick to work.<p>

With Wildmutt's enhanced senses, the boy could feel the fear coming from the man behind the mask and smirked. He lifted up a hand and sent a fireball flying straight at the creep, who neatly dodged it. They could all feel the smirk behind the mask if not see it. Whatever trace of fear there might have been was clearly gone now. Devlin let out a sound half-way between a growl and a snarl and charged at the enemy like an enraged animal. Michael lifted a hand and dark tendrils, exactly like the ones that had sucked the energy right out of Gwendolyn, stretched from his finger tips, turning into a black beam that was quickly hurtling towards the young Levin boy. A pink shield shot up, stopping the beam at the last moment.

"I told you not to do that!" the oldest osmosian snapped at his parallel son. Who knew what would happen to the boy if he kept changing. No, scratch that. Kevin knew _exactly _what would happen: he wouldn't be able to change back.

"You're the one that put Gwendolyn in the hospital!" the boy yelled, completely ignoring the man he'd come to regard as a father figure over the past two days, in a voice that sounded so much like Kevin's had when he was 11 that the 17-year-old visibly cringed. Devlin stifled a sigh of frustration. He didn't have time to explain that, since he was born with the ability to change into this particular monster, he probably wouldn't lose his humanity.

"I merely took the energy from her," Michael explained patiently, "Lovely Gwen gave her back that energy, but at a dire cost. She should be the one in hospital!"

"What are you talking about, Michael?" said anodite snapped, her eyes narrowed from the effort it was taking to keep the shield up, "What are you even doing here?"

"You can lower the shield, lovely Gwen," he told her, "It would be no prize to take you in such a weak state."

"Not to mention, make it easier for you to get her," Kevin growled, hand turning into a mace.

"Suit yourself, Levin," the villain said with a brief shrug, "Guess I'll just have to content myself with getting rid of you."

"Not a chance, Michael," the older anodite snapped, but lowered her shield. Once they were done talking, a fight would ensue, and she'd need all her strength.

"How sad it is, what's happened to you in this universe, isn't it? Be a shame if it happened in ours… again," Darkstar mused, eyes focusing momentarily on the osmosian. The 17-year-old looked ready to murder him. "Now, as for what I'm doing here, well. The deal Gwendolyn and I made was your life, you fool, for a year's worth of her wonderful energy. However, it was never said that she'd go dimension hopping from one place to another."

"What?" Ben asked, confusion clear on his face, "Dude, what does us being in parallel universe have to do with Gwen's energy?"

"If an energy being gives someone a year's worth of energy, a gateway is opened between the two beings," Jenny explained calmly and steadily, "If those two beings aren't in the same dimension, the gateway is closed off, which makes it impossible for the one receiving the energy to get it."

"Smart, like your mother," Darkstar said approvingly. Jenny's eyes tightened. "Also, your dimension is doing something to mess with her energy."

"Different worlds, different immune systems," the younger red head explained once again. When everyone stared at her like she had two heads, she elaborated. "There's something in the air that's messing up Mom's powers."

"Exactly, young anodite," Darkstar stated, starting up his pacing again, "And- Before I continue, would you three please take off those ridiculous disguises? You two look as ugly as ever, and I've always liked you better with green eyes, Gwendolyn."

The trio froze for a moment and exchanged looks. Should they take the masks off? What if, for some reason, the adults happened to walk in at that moment? Then again, they'd have to find out sooner or later…

Ben gave a small nod.

"The party's already over, guys," he said and removed his mask. A blinding flash appeared, and, once it was gone, revealed a 16-year-old Ben Tennyson. Gwen and Kevin exchanged quick looks before taking off their own masks.

"Much better," the criminal stated, his eyes running over the older anodite's dress as if though seeing it for the first time. "Nice dress, by the way."

"Thanks," the girl rolled her eyes before quickly glancing at her boyfriend. She knew the look in his eyes. If he didn't get to hit something soon, there was gonna be trouble. Big trouble.

Darkstar, however, merely smiled at the pair before continuing. "When I felt the gateway close, I followed you here, intent on finding lovely Gwen and taking her powers once and for all. Then, I find that her powers have been damaged, but, just my luck, there's not only a stronger, older, more powerful version of her here, but also, she has a daughter. A full… fledged… anodite… daughter."

His words made the older anodite's eyes widen in anger. This man was a monster. He'd taken the life essence of innocents, tried to take hers, tried to kill Ben, Kevin… And now, he was after her daughter. Gwen was so mad she was sure steam must be coming out of her ears. Was this guy _trying_ to piss her off? If so, he should've known better than to mess with an anodite. Unfortunately, he was also very good at it.

"Over my dead body," the red head declared through gritted teeth, and, with every fiber of her being, sent an energy blast aimed directly at the imbecile (because that's all he was, really). It hit him square in the chest, knocking him backwards, straight into the wall, right off his feet. The metal mask went flying and skidded to a halt in the corner of the massive room. The two kids' eyes flew to his face and they gasped. He looked more like a zombie come to life than an evil villain. A horrible smile was smeared across his wrinkled face and he started chuckling to himself, as if though this whole situation were very amusing.

"I see why he wears the mask," Devlin stated. Even he looked a little frightened now.

"Oh, lovely Gwen," the monster said, slowly getting up to his feet, hands extended, "You'll pay for that dearly."

Beams of black energy stretched from the man's fingertips once more, and both anodites threw up pink manna shields to protect them all.

"Kevin!" Ben cried, hand poised over the Ultimaterix, "Get Kenny and get him outta here. Gwen, Jenny, cover him."

"And what do you propose we do?" Devlin snapped sarcastically, his impatience waning.

"Take down the bad guy, of course," the 16-year-old said, as if though that wasn't completely obvious. His hand hit the dial of the watch, and a flash of bright green light appeared, quickly evaporating to reveal a huge dinosaur-like alien: Humungosaur.

"That's the best idea you've had ever since you got here, Tennyson," Kevin growled as he slowly started to make his way towards the unconscious boy.

"Oh, please," Darkstar smirked, his blue eyes trained on the osmosian, "You really think I'd be that stupid?" He directed another one of his beams at the 17-year-old. Two shields promptly appeared in front of him.

"Leave him alone, Michael!" Gwen shouted, dropping her shield and starting to run towards her old enemy/ex-boyfriend, her hands glowing with manna. Just as Michael opened his mouth to retort, before even the red head had a chance to hit him, he was knocked backwards by Devlin's super-strength. By that time Kevin had already reached Kenny and was picking up the boy gently. Kenny let out a soft moan.

"Come on, kid," the teen coaxed, "You'll be okay."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" the monster snapped, aiming a blast at the teen's retreating figure. Kevin ducked to avoid the beam, shielding Kenny with his stone body.

"Leave my kid alone!" Humungousaur roared. He swung out with his arm, getting Michael in the stomach and propelling him through the air to the far side of the room. Darkstar managed to regain his balance, and, rather than crash into the wall, flew almost gracefully, avoiding it. He gave an animal-like snarl before sending energy blasts flying every which way.

"I know a spell…" Jenny cried, trying to protect Devlin as well as she could while still giving him room to shoot pieces of taytonite, fireballs, and Stinkfly goo at the enemy, "to send him to the Null Void!"

"Then what are you waiting for?" Humungousaur snapped. By this time, Kevin had escaped the room with his best friend's parallel son. He ran out into the hallway and almost crashed right into Max Tennyson.

"What's going on?" the old man demanded. He peered around the omsosian just as a piece of metal, sent by Devlin, flew out of the living room. He was pulled back just in time by the 17-year-old.

"Watch out!" Kevin cried. Kenny moaned in his arms. "It's a long story," the teen answered the old man's previous question. Max's wrinkled face settled into a frown. He finally gave a firm nod and held out his arms for his great grandson.

"Go help your friends, I'll take Kenny downstairs to the infirmary," he ordered. Kevin did as he was told without hesitation and rushed back into the living room.

"The spell needs a lot of power," Jenny was saying, "I need help."

"I'll lend you my energy," the 16-year-old version of the girl's mother stated, holding out her hand while still trying to keep all the shields up.

"Then you better put down those shields," the younger red head told her, "Because this is gonna take everything we've got."

After a moment's hesitation on Gwen's behalf, all the shields dropped. Ben and Devlin had reached a stalemate with Darkstar; each one was backed up into his own corner. A sadistic smile spread across the villain's face at the window of opportunity. He gathered black energy to his hands just as Jenny bowed her head and started reciting the spell she'd learned obly a few days ago while looking through her mother's books.

Kevin stood a little ways into the room, but he was frozen in place. He watched in mild horror at the two anodites. To anyone else, it would have looked like the spell had no effect on Gwen at all. He knew better. Jenny and Michael's words replayed over and over in his head:

"_She should be the one in the hospital!"_

"_There' something in the air that's messing up her powers."_

It was little things, like her legs almost giving out but straightening again in the space of a millisecond, the slight hunch in her shoulders, the crease that always appeared between her eyes when she was making a huge effort that told the raven-haired teen just how big a toll the spell was taking on his girlfriend.

It was working. He could tell by the red light that suddenly illuminated the room, which seemed to be coming from Darkstar's direction, as well as the prolonged, masculine "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" that reverberated throughout the room. But, for the osmosian, it was like these things were trivial, part of an unimportant and not necessarily necessary background. His obsidian eyes were trained on his Gwen. Her hand clenched into a fist at her side as she struggled to stay focused, to stay conscious.

Suddenly, the light faded, and she collapsed, nearly dragging her daughter along with her.

Kevin felt himself running forward, the protective layer of stone disappearing. His arms were outstretched as he collapsed to his knees, catching the red head just as she fell, nconscious, to the ground.

"Gwen?" he cried, despair seeping into the teen's voice as he desperately tried to get her to wake up, "Gwen!"

"Dude!" Ben cried, suddenly appearing as himself at his friend's side. "Calm down! It's Gwen, she'll be fine. Maybe we should just let her rest for a while." It was like he was talking to thin air.

Jenny stood not two feet away, hands on her knees, trying to get her breath back. The spell had been hard for her, too. A large hand touched the girl on the shoulder. Devlin.

"Hey," he said in his human voice, back to his human self, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she breathed, finally able to straighten up again, "But I don't think Mom is?"

"You're right," a new, older, feminine voice confirmed. The kids, and the bearer of the Ultimaterix all turned to the doorway to see both the older Ben and Gwen standing there, arms crossed on their chests. Ben 10,000 looked like he was getting a huge headache. His hand was pressed to his forehead, eyes scrunched closed.

"Kids, you know I hate not being in the loop," he said with a sigh, opening his eyes and facing the small gathering of heroes in his now destroyed living room. His normally calm, warm green eyes were hard as steel. "So you can imagine how much I hate asking the same question twice in two days: what the heck is going on here?"

A/N: Yes, yes, I know this chapter isn't one of my best, and it certainly isn't as long as I would've liked it to be… or you, either, I imagine, but you guys deserve _something _for the long wait, so here's my peace offering! Don't worry, I can't wait to write the next chapter, so it definitely won't take as long for me to continue this as it did this time :)


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I know, I know. Two chapters in one week is so unlike me, but you guys deserve it. The last chapter was short, and, granted, this one's only a few words longer, you've been waiting for months, and, like I said, I couldn't wait to write this. So, here you go! And also, just so you know, I read online that Edwin's real last name was Grandsmith so from now on, that's their last name. If I get a comment asking me about why their last name's changed AGAIN, THIS IS WHY!

* * *

><p>"Umm… Devlin, Jenny and I decided to change into teen versions of you guys to scare the bad guy more?" 16-year-old Ben tried. Did the lie sound as bad to them as it did to him? He saw both pairs of the adults' green eyes narrow. Clearly, it did.<p>

"Do you think we're stupid?" the red head demanded. She uncrossed her arms to reveal what looked like an ordinary handgun, but everyone was sure was about ten times as dangerous as one.

"Mom," Jenny said cautiously, "We can explain. Just put down the gun and-"

"Young lady, I am so fed up with you that it might be safer if you don't talk at all at the moment," the woman declared, sounding perilously close to yelling.

"Devlin, you wanna explain this?" Ben 10,000 asked his adopted son, gesturing at the scene of his ruined living room, "You're not trying to bust your dad out of the Null Void again, are you?"

"No," the boy growled, hands balling up into fists at his sides, "Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to try that again?"

"Considering there's a teenager here that looks an awful lot like him holding a girl who looks almost exactly like a teenage Gwen, I'm starting to have my doubts," the man announced, missing the immediate spark of anger in his adopted son's eyes. "And where is Kenny? Don't tell me he wasn't in on whatever it was you three did."

"Two," Devlin corrected his adopted father. He seemed to be absolutely unaffected by the gun. After all, he'd stared down the barrel of one before as part of training. Besides, Mrs. Grandsmith wouldn't really shoot at them, would she? "It was me and Kenny. Jenny didn't help bring them here."

"But she did help you two," the adult Gwen stated, turning back to her daughter, "Jenny, you are grounded for life. No TV, no cell phone, and we are leaving tomorrow. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mom," the youngest red head mumbled.

"Good," the oldest anodite said, seeming to have gotten better control of herself, "Now get to your room."

"Hold it," the girl's uncle stopped her before she could even take the first step, "Gwen, your daughter doesn't have a lying bone in her body."

"I used to think so," the girl's mother muttered. Jenny's jaw tightened as tears swam in her cerulean eyes. Ben went on as if she hadn't spoken.

"Devlin here is the son of two villains. I don't know about you, but I trust her a little more than I trust him." Again, there was that spark. Devlin could see red, he was angry. He could feel himself wanting to change, to shift into that creature his dad – because that's who he was, no matter what anyone said, – had warned him not to.

"Hey!" the teenage Ben suddenly cried. He could see how close Devlin was getting to doing something everyone was gonna regret. As the Earth's greatest hero, it was his job, at least at that moment, to make sure it didn't happen. "Cut the kid some slack. It wasn't all his fault. The two of them, Kenny and Devlin, snuck down to Grandpa Max's lab, Kenny found a remote, pressed a button, and brought us here. We're from a parallel universe, and Kevin's been helping Grandpa Max rewire the thing so that we can get home."

"How could that work?" the adult Gwen asked, gun still poised at the ready, eyes narrowed in suspicion, "If Grandpa Max thought you were from another time, and he and _Kevin_ were working on the same project?" The name felt like poison in the anodite's mouth.

There was a moment of silence as realization struck. He knew. Max had known all along about the teens. He just hadn't thought it necessary to tell the adults. Ben 10,000 hissed out a breath angrily.

"You know, tomorrow I think I'm gonna have to have a talk with Grandpa Max about family trust and values," he ground out. Kevin, who had been disturbingly quiet up until that point, suddenly gave a bark of laughter.

"You're one to talk," his tone was mocking, near hysterical. His grip on his beloved girlfriend tightened. "Your own cousin's been laying here for the past ten minutes, unconscious, powerless, and very possibly dying, and all you can do is yell at _my kid_ and blame him for trying to free some psychopath from the Null Void, while we just _sent another_ psychopath there!"

"Kevin, I-" Jenny started, taking a half-step towards the osmosian, but was interrupted for the second time by her mother.

"Don't step any closer, Jenny," the anodite warned, gun now pointing unflinchingly at Kevin, "He's a dangerous criminal, who-"

"He's fine, Mom!" the 10-year-old girl cried out, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. Her own _mother_ was pointing a gun at her and her companions. It would have been a little too much for anyone. "At this moment, he's less homicidal than you!"

"Jenny, listen-"

"No, Mom, you listen," the girl snapped, growing hysterical, "You're the one holding the gun. He's the one holding the unconscious body of his girlfriend. And who is that again? Oh, that's right! It's you!" Her breath was heavy by the time the speech was done. Jenny looked exhausted, and her eyes held nothing but a sense of betrayal. How could they not listen? She'd always been perfect, never given anyone a reason to doubt her! How could they. The tears were coming in rivers now. Devlin placed his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way.

"I think you made your point, Jenny," he said softly, "And it's also time to get to bed. That spell took a lot out of you." He stepped forward, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and tugging her close. He gently started guiding her away from all the commotion, past the adults, and through the exit. In the doorway, he stopped and turned to his adopted father. His green eyes had been closely trained on the two kids the moment they started moving. His cousin's were still trained on the teens. She was upset at her daughter's outburst, but there were other, more important things that needed to be taken care of at the moment.

"Kenny's in the infirmary," Devlin told the adult Ben, "That creep we took down stole all his energy, just like he did with Gwendolyn."

The man's eyes widened and instinct took over. His son was in the hospital. His son, his own flesh and blood, had been hurt, and he wasn't there to protect him. He had to go. A thin, perfectly manicured hand wrapped around his wrist before he could dash out.

"Kenny's fine," Gwen assured him, "Right now we need to focus on the immediate danger." After a moment's hesitation, the man gave a brisk nod. He knew she was right. That didn't make it any easier.

"Is what Jenny said true?" the red head addressed the two teens, "Is the parallel version of me really stupid enough to date Kevin Levin in your universe?"

"You're the one who's stupid," the teenage Ben announced, defending his cousin. He knew his friend was close to a mental breakdown next to him if they didn't get the 16-year-old anodite some help at that moment. So, he did what he always did when he had no idea what to do: he started blathering. "You realize you've married a total douche, right? I mean, do you even love the guy? Why did you even marry him? Was it because of the money? Oh, God, Gwen, your family already has a ton of it!"

"I married him because I loved him," the woman declared, posture tensing up even more. That had hit a little too close to home.

"'Loved'? As in, past tense? As in 'used to love, but don't anymore'?" There was a mischievous glint in the teen's eye as he picked on the detail. Suddenly, memories of how he'd teased Gwen when they were kids came rushing back. He remembered that it had used to be fun, and was now finding it to be true again.

"He's got a point," the adult him agreed, shrugging his shoulders, feigning innocence.

"That doesn't matter!" the anodite cried, enraged at her cousin for taking the teen's side, "We've got an insane con-"

"Ex-con."

"Whatever! – in our house, who needs to be locked up!" At that moment, the teenage girl let out a soft moan and turned in her beloved osmosian's arms so that she was on her back, facing the ceiling even more. A thin stream of blood trickled out of the girl's nose, pouring down her cheek, leaving a small, barely visible stain on the 17-year-old's tuxedo. Everyone was staring at the girl with wide eyes. Kevin's head snapped up and he locked eyes with the older version of his girlfriend.

"You get Gwen some help and you can lock me up wherever you want," he promised her. The adults seemed to be willing to accept this deal, but before either of them could utter a single word, or make a single move, a single word, clear as daylight, left the mouth of the 16-year-old idiot, who Kevin was just about ready to strangle at that moment.

"No."

"Kevin Levin just handed himself to us on a silver platter, and you want to pass that chance up?" Gwen cried, completely outraged. This guy was an even bigger idiot than her Ben!

"More importantly, do you want Gwen to die?" the teen's friend cried out. His hands tightened on his beloved redhead. "Or are you just the biggest moron in the Multiverse!"

"Yes, no, and no," the teen said patiently. His eyes flitted back to his cousin. The blood was still coming, but very slowly. She needed medical attention. Unfortunately, this couldn't wait. Gwen was strong, the teen hero tried to calm himself, she could wait a few more moments. "First of all, I wanna keep on my cousin's good side. And if she finds out I let her boyfriend get locked up somewhere while she's lying in the recovery room, that's not gonna end well."

"And second?" Ben 10,000 asked through grounded teeth. His green eyes were trained on the small stream of blood. If they didn't do something soon, she would die. He'd seen this happen before, once, with his Gwen. She'd used too much power one day, when she was sick. They'd brought her to the hospital. The doctors had said she was lucky. A few more minutes, and she would have been dead meat.

"You're gonna send him to the Null Void, aren't you?" the younger Ben asked, eyes wary.

"That's usually where we lock up Earth's greatest villains, yes," Gwen answered impatiently.

Kevin's jaw clenched. Ben walked a little closer to the two adults. He didn't want his best friend overhearing this.

"Kevin has… anger management issues."

"That's an understatement," the red head scoffed.

"He's gotten better since you sent him off to those anger management classes," the teen continued like he hadn't heard her, "but, well, he's still not too keen on villains who hurt the people he cares about. Especially Gwen."

"What's your point?" she demanded, getting fed up with this whole thing.

"If you send him to the Null Void, Kevin's gonna do way worse than just kick Darkstar's butt," the brunette boy told them, "He already may have inadvertently killed his father's murderer."

"What?" the woman exclaimed. She'd never heard anything about Kevin's family at all, let alone that his father had been murdered. That would explain some things, though. She made a mental note to check the information out on her computer later.

"Long story," the teen said, slightly dismissive, "The guy's probably still floating around space. Anyway, I don't want my best friend to be a killer, and if you so much as leave him alone with Darkstar in one room for more than five minutes, there's gonna be a fight, guaranteed. A whole dimension of criminals? It's gonna be a bloodbath."

"What happens to criminals after they get put away in the Null Void isn't our problem," Gwen told him brusquely, "They can kill each other off as far as the Plumbers are concerned."

"Look where that philosophy got you with your Kevin: he came back 30 years later stronger than ever!" the teen exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically.

The tired-looking anodite heaved a great sigh and turned to her cousin.

"What do you think?" she asked, sounding completely defeated. It had been a long day and now all that she really wanted to do was soak in a nice, hot bubble bath and go to bed.

"I'm still on the part where Kevin Levin actually took anger management classes," the woman's almost entirely useless cousin announced. He was rubbing his chin with one hand, lost deep in thought. The voice of the seemingly nice, teenage version of his enemy broke the man out of his trance.

"Yo, Tennysons," Kevin snapped, "Sometime this century perhaps?"

"We'll keep him locked up in one of the cells tonight," the greatest hero of this universe finally decided, already on his way to the two teens. "We'll decide what to do with him tomorrow." He tried to reach for the teenage red head in the osmosian's arms, but he shifted so that neither one of them was within his reach. Ben 10,000's eyes narrowed. "I can't help her if you don't let me touch her."

Kevin shifted again and, a second later, the girl was in the man's arms, being carried out bridal style to the infirmary. As he passed by Gwen, the hero stopped and whispered: "Can you handle him?"

"Don't worry about me," the woman told him, "Take care of her." And with that, Ben 10,000 left his living room. The remaining red head walked over to the still-slumped teenager, walked around to his back, and pointed her handgun to his shoulder.

"You know what this is?" she asked. The osmosian took one look at the gun and turned away.

"Modified 9mm," the raven-haired teen recited as if though reading from a text book, "Has the design of a regular gun, but doesn't carry bullets. Or, at least, not the ones with gunpowder in them. Each bullet is designed to release 1000 volts of electricity once it's buried inside any living thing."

"That's right," the anodite sounded surprised, "So you know what's gonna happen to you if you don't do exactly as I say."

"You don't even need the gun," Ben snickered, "He'd still do exactly as you say."

The adult version of the teen's cousin turned around, gun still pointed at the ex-con. Her eyes were deadest. It was a look that allowed no argument. If her orders were disobeyed, the red head wouldn't hesitate to harm.

"Go to your room, and get to bed," she ordered.

Ben looked like he was about to protest, but seemed to decide against it. He wasn't sure if it was the murderous look in the woman's eyes, or the slight shake of his friend's head that led to that decision. Without a word, the bearer of the Ultimaterix took off.

"Get up," Gwen ordered her prisoner. The teen slowly rose, facing away from the red head.

"Turn around."

He turned around.

"Start walking."

He started walking, letting the gun guide him down the hall, down three flights of stairs, past several more rooms, and into an elevator.

"Basement," the woman ordered, "Code 3785411."

"Code accepted," a female voice coming from a loudspeaker on the ceiling announced, "Gwen Grandsmith."

They stepped out of the elevator into a sterile, white hall lined with what looked like oversized aquariums without water. All were empty. Gwen stopped at cell 5667 and entered a few numbers into the keypad next to the glass. It slid open to admit the two into the small room. Kevin was unceremoniously pushed inside it.

"Now you stay there until morning," the anodite told him firmly, "Someone will be by to give you breakfast and let you out… or not. Either way, they'll have the gun, so don't try anything stupid." Secretly, the anodite was hoping she could send Kai to do it. Better her than someone useful... or who actually was capable of feeling.

"Can you do me a favor?" the teen asked before she could turn to walk away.

"Depends on what it is," she told him, stopping and turning around cautiously. Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously.

"Go easy on the kids," he said resignedly, "Especially Jenny. You and Ed-dork-"

"Edwin."

"- remind me of Gwen's parents, and she's had it bad enough," he finished, a forlorn look on his face. The teen thought of all the times he'd come to find his beloved Gwen too tired to give fighting aliens her best shot, or fallen asleep on the incredibly uncomfortable bench in his garage. "I'm sure you have, too."

She gave a brisk nod.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah," he smirked, stepping back a few steps until his back hit the wall and he slumped down. His eyes closed, as if though the teen were getting ready for a good night's sleep. That same unsettling smirk laced his lips. "Divorce your husband."


End file.
